encryption

Encrypt an operating system using TrueCrypt

TrueCrypt has been the standard for file and folder encryption since 2004, and it doesn't hurt that it's open-source freeware, either. The latest update includes the power to do more than protect the mere output of your work: you can now encrypt and hide an entire operating system using the program's wizard.

As the step-by-step guide points out when you start it, one of the reasons you might want to create a hidden OS is in case of extortion. A little paranoia doesn't hurt, either. So, when you create the hidden OS, it also creates signposts … Read more

Maxtor Black Armor: The Fort Knox of external hard drives

We first caught a glimpse of the Maxtor Black Armor back in January at CES 2008. Since then, we've been excited to get it into our labs for testing to see if it measures up to the rest of the market. After a few months of waiting, we finally got it and...not so much.

The Black Armor's No. 1 concern is data security. Like a little digital lockbox, everything inside the hard drive is protected by 128-bit government grade encryption that's built into the hardware itself, rendering the drive useless in the wrong hands. The owner … Read more

Full Disk Encryption isn't FDE anymore

A few years ago, encryption was a topic discussed at the NSA or MIT, not in the corporate boardroom. Times have changed!

Given the slew of privacy regulations and publicly disclosed breaches, laptop encryption has become a must-have.

As companies buy encryption software to cover this requirement, however, another pattern is emerging. Don't let that $150 per user licensing fool you--FDE has become a commodity. The federal government negotiated a deal to pay around $15 per seat for FDE, and I've seen big deals as low as $5 per seat. To their credit, the FDE software vendors anticipated … Read more

Surf the Web anonymously

The Internet can be a scary place, with all kinds of bad guys, and even good guys, trying to spy on what information you're sending through the tubes. Even if you have nothing to hide, maybe the thought of folks snooping on you makes your skin crawl. In this Insider Secret, you'll learn how to surf anonymously.

Watch the video to see all of this in action.

For basic Web surfing, there are free services coming and going all the time that allow you to avoid cookies and other tracking while using your regular old Web browser. A … Read more

Featured Freeware: Session Manager

Session Manager can save, backup, restore, and manage multiple Firefox tab sessions. It comes with the option of loading the last saved session, not loading a previous session, loading a specific older session, or asking the user to choose. If it stopped there, it'd still be more powerful than the native Firefox session manager is but it has more to offer.

In addition, it can save more than 20 older sessions, and offers users several options for session management when closing Firefox. The plug-in automatically backs up sessions in the event of a crash. Users can also configure how … Read more

Keep your data safe at the border

There is no right to privacy at international borders. For those of us with laptops, this presents a pretty major problem: How do we get through U.S. Customs with our beloved portable devices, without having Uncle Sam peeking at every e-mail we've sent, every MP3 we've listened to, and every "home movie" we've made?

The obvious solution, encryption, is not enough. Non-Americans have no right to enter the U.S. Don't want to hand over your encryption keys? No problem--but you will be put on the next airplane back to your home country (… Read more

AES 256-bit encryption on Fujitsu hard drives

On Monday, Fujitsu Computer Products of America announced the Fujitsu MHZ2 CJ series for business notebooks that features full disk encryption. The new 2.5" 7,200RPM SATA hard disk drive (HDD) incorporates the AES-256 encryption standard at the hardware level without the need for additional software.

Unlike encryption with Windows Vista BitLocker, which requires the operating system to be present, the new Fujitsu drive performs its encryption entirely within the BIOS during power on. Encryption performed within the BIOS prevents the keys from being stored in the clear anywhere on the drive.

According to Fujitsu, "the key … Read more

EasySafe vows to double security

Information security, or lack of, may have been actor Edison Chen's downfall when his bedroom antics hit the Internet circuit. But for companies dealing in data security tools, it's been one satisfying ride (pun intended) since it's exposed a vulnerable issue that strikes fear into the hearts of PC users, not to mention Edison's lower extremities.

In the worst-case scenario, failure to secure your personal or critical information on your computer can result in serious fallout not only for yourself, but involved parties, as we've witnessed in a very public way. While companies know it'… Read more

Privacy: What should Google do?

Public interest groups, academics and members of the press have hammered Google for its lax privacy policies. The criticism has mostly focused on the log deletion practices and browser cookie policies at the search giant. Google claims that search quality and user privacy are a zero-sum game: deleting log data makes it more difficult to improve search results. Perhaps the company is right. However, there are several other pro-privacy steps that Google could take to significantly protect its customers--which it has not done, and continues to reject.

Over the last few months, a number of Google's engineers have issued … Read more