![]() This list of USB encryption software includes free options as well as paid tools. Software that manages the entire stick, creating a partition and installing itself on the unencrypted part is a great help. You may use applications to protect your files on the way to cloud-based backup but they won’t help you secure your flash drive. This is a much more efficient method of managing your sensitive files because you may have other files that don’t need to be protected with security. It is possible to use an encryption manager that will only encrypt the files on your stick, not a partition and not the entire stick. If you want your data to be truly portable and accessible from all operating systems, then the only way you can ensure compatibility is to partition the USB and create several copies of your data, making each partition encrypted in a format that is compatible with one operating system. The majority of the USB stick encryption methods listed below will perform the partition process for you, so you don’t have to worry about that task. Again, though, you will be restricted to only getting access to that software from computers running the operating systems with which the encryption software is compatible. That way, no matter which computer you go to with your memory stick, you just have to run the encryption program from the stick. You don’t want the executable for decryption to be hidden behind the encryption, so you will need to partition the USB stick, encrypt part of it and store the encryption software on the unencrypted partition. The simplest solution to this problem is to store the encryption software onto the USB stick. However, if you use your USB to transport files from one computer to another, and if you want to be able to connect it to any computer, then you are going to face a problem of software availability. If you only use the USB on one computer, then you won’t have much of a problem because the computer that you encrypted the flash drive from will still have the same software on it to enable you to access the encrypted stick. Whichever encryption system you choose, you still face the problem that you will eventually need to decrypt it to get access to your files. Some encryption systems are free of charge. However, again, using such tools mean that you can only transfer files from your USB stick onto computers that have that encryption tool installed. You have to locate them and install them before you can use them and in the case of the Mac utility, it won’t encrypt a USB stick.Ī number of file and disk encryption systems are available and some of them are free of charge. However, they are not automatically available. Linux, Windows, and Mac OS all have native file encryption systems that are free to use. ![]() For example, if you encrypt the USB stick with a Linux utility, you can only access those files by connecting the USB to a Linux computer, and only one with that same encryption utility installed on it. ![]() One drawback to using any encryption system is that you restrict your own access to the data on your USB stick. You can protect your data from being riffled through by a stranger by encrypting your USB stick. However, the chances of someone else accessing that data is an even worse prospect. Losing a flash drive is annoying because you lose all of your important data along with it. Unfortunately, those very attributes also make them easy to steal or lose. The fact that they are small and light makes USB sticks very easy to carry, hide, and store. They make it easy to transfer data from one computer to another and they help you keep private data off publicly accessed computers or workplace equipment. USB sticks are handy little storage extensions. ![]()
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