Reference - Internet and PC Secirity

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Normally all the data stored on a PC can be easily read by others. Even though operating systems such as Windows offer password protection for different users, password do not protect data itself. In many cases one does not want others to be able to see his or her documents, personal pictures, finance information and other files.

Now also there is a regulation permitting authorities at the airports confiscate media such as memory stocks, disks, laptops in order to scan the contents. Normally they do not do this, but they have the right to do so. Supposedly they are looking for some illegal data, but in any case if you have anything which you do not want others see it is a good idea to hide that data.

A good way to do this is to use the free program TrueCrypt. It can encrypt and hide all you sensitive data in a file which can be opened with a password. Then you can use it as a regular drive. If you use a good password, the encrypted data will be next to impossible to decrypt. It takes some time to set it up, in the range 15-20 minutes, but once it is set it is very easy to use, and it is also free!

TrueCrypt is free open-source disk encryption software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux

Files, folders or entire partitions can be encrypted using TrueCrypt, with a good choice of encryption algorithm.

Main Features:

• Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.
• Encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive.
• Encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).
• Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.
• Parallelization and pipelining allow data to be read and written as fast as if the drive was not encrypted.
• Encryption can be hardware-accelerated on modern processors.
• Provides plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password:
• Hidden volume (steganography) and hidden operating system.

Website for TrueCrypt description and free download: http://www.truecrypt.org/