TrueCrypt - Protecting USB Memory Sticks
For the last year I've been using a 8Gb JetFlash USB memory stick to store all my ebooks and projects on. It's a fantastic little memory stick because it comes with a piece of software called uFormat which partitions the stick into a unsafe and secure area. You need to login to the secure area.
I recently filled it, so I decided to go the next step and I upgraded to 16Gb (still a JetFlash).
Unfortunately it turned out uFormat was not supported on the higher memory stick, which was really annoying, and instead another tool JetElite was it's replacement. JetElite uses encryption instead to protect sensitive data and unfortunately it's slower than a week in jail, which was also very annoying.
So my memory stick was basically unusable because to make things safe required a slow encryption process. That was a problem, a big problem.... so I started searching.... and I found something wonderful.
TrueCrypt - http://www.truecrypt.org/
Here is a list of it's features....
It lets you create a single encrypted file that can be mounted as a real drive, a drive that you need to login to. It's encryption choices are so good that you can create a combined algorithim resulting in a 768 bit key (several universes would pass before being able to brute force crack it) and it is so blindingly fast you have no idea encryption is taking place, even though the data might be getting stored on a memory stick with limited transfer rates... and get this....
....it's free........ (everyone's favorite price).
There is also a traveller mode which makes it perfect for memory stick use. Traveller mode means you can run TrueCrypt from the memory stick your protecting without needing to do an install on the machine (although they say you need admin rights on the machine)
Your limited to 3.9 Gb on FAT formatted drives / memory sticks but thats a limitation on the FAT format and bsides it's not that bad creating different virtual drives for different types of data you might store. For example I split the 16Gb drive into 4 areas, one unsafe, one for books, one for projects, and one for personnal data, and it's better than before as each is protected differently; not so many eggs in one basket.
What a wonderful, wonderful, piece of software. A must have if you own a memory stick.
I'd even like to suggest a donation to the developers if you do decide to use it.