#kryptotel

How to encrypt a flash drive using VeraCrypt on Windows?

It is very easy to lose a portable flash drive and with lose all your data with data. The data in the flash drive could be sensitive and you might risk this data being misused by anyone who could be in possession of your flash drive.

Encryption is an important security tool that secures your data and keeps your data secure and inaccessible even if someone gets his/her hands on your flash drive. There are a number of ways you can encrypt the data on flash drive and one of methods is encryption using VeraCrypt on Windows platform.

Lets see how we can encrypt a flash drive using VeraCrypt on Windows.

The below procedure shows how to encrypt a flash drive using VeraCrypt on a Windows platform:

Step 1: Download VeraCrypt from https://veracrypt.codeplex.com/. Then install and run it.

Step 2: Click on the ‘Create Volume’ option on the main window that will appear

Step 3: Next screen that will appear is ‘VeraCrypt Volume Creation Wizard’.

This will show up two options:

Option 1: ‘Create an encrypted file container’ which creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file

Option 2: ‘Create a volume within a partition/drive’ which formats and encrypts a non-system partition, entire external or secondary drive, entire USB drive, etc.

Here you would select the option 2, that is, ‘Create a volume within a partition/drive’, and then click ‘Next’.

Step 4: You will again get two options to choose from, one is ‘Standard VeraCrypt Volume’ and second is ‘Hidden VeraCrypt Volume’.

Select ‘Standard VeraCrypt Volume’ to create a normal VeraCrypt volume, and then click ‘Next’.

Step 5: Click on ‘Select Device’ and choose the USB/Flash drive that you want to encrypt and is plugged into the computer. Click ‘OK’.

Make sure to check ‘Never save history’ and then click ‘Next’.

Step 6: In this step you will be able to choose encryption algorithm and hash algorithm. The options that you get are AES, Serpent, Twofish, etc.

You can choose the default and click ‘Next’.

Step 7: Now, you will be asked to set up a password. This password must be between 40-60 characters long. Make sure you choose a strong password and remember it. Click ‘Next’.

Step 8: Select the recommended option for File system (FAT filesystem). Click ‘Next’.

Step 9: On the Volume Format window, move around your mouse for about 30 seconds to generate some random data. Once enough random data has been generated, click the ‘Format’ button.

Now this process might take some time to complete.

When the formatting process is done, you will get a message – ‘The VeraCrypt volume has been successfully created’. Click ‘OK’ and exit the wizard.

Step 10: Now choose one of the slots and click ‘Select Device’ to choose the USB/Flash Drive you just formatted. Then click on the ‘Mount’ button. Type in your passwords. After entering your passwords, you will that your device name and mount directory will appear in the file manager. This indicates the process is complete.

When FileVault is enabled on Mac, it encrypts everything, all files stored on the disk are encrypted. Any newly created file or document will be encrypted automatically and instantly. It is fast and highly secure.

How to encrypt Mac?

Apple has a built-in encryption support for Mac OS. With the built-in feature of FileVault, you can encrypt entire Start-up disk on a Mac.

When FileVault is enabled on Mac, it encrypts everything, all files stored on the disk are encrypted. Any newly created file or document will be encrypted automatically and instantly. It is fast and highly secure.

FileVault full-disk encryption (FileVault 2) uses XTS-AES 128 encryption to help prevent unauthorized access to the information on your startup disk. If someone gains an unauthorized access to your Mac and access your hard drive will not be able to view your data without having the encryption key since data will be stored in an encrypted form. If the FileVault wasn't enabled and the Mac was not encrypted, someone with physical access to your Mac could easily view your unencrypted data by removing your hard drive.

Thus, it is highly recommended to turn on FileVault and encrypt your Mac.

Steps to encrypt Mac? Apple has made FileVault 2 an inbuilt feature Mac OS X Lion onwards. Here's how you can enable FileVault on your Mac.

Choose Apple menu and goto System Preferences, then click Security and Privacy icon.

Click the FileVault tab to configure it.

Click the Lock button on the bottom left corner. Enter an Administrator name and Password.

Click Turn On FileVault.

If you have multiple users on your Mac, you will need to enter password for each user to enable FileVault for those users. Click Enable User and enter password. This will unlock the disk for these users, else they will not be able to access the disk. Users added after turning on FileVault will be automatically enabled.

You need choose an option to unlock the disk and reset your password in case you forget your password.

Depending on the Mac OS you are using you can choose one of the below methods:a.) You can choose to store a FileVault recovery key with Apple by providing the questions and answers to three security questions. Choose answers that you're sure to remember.b.) You can choose to use your iCloud account to unlock your disk and reset your password.

When Filevault setup is complete, your Mac will restart and you will need to login by entering your password. After your Mac starts up, the encryption of the disk occurs in the background.

Encryption process takes sometime and you can check progress in the FileVault section of Security & Privacy preferences. It usually takes an hour or two to complete. During this time you can continue to use your Mac normally.

You need to make sure that your Mac is awake and plugged in to AC power through this entire process.

c.) If you don't want to use iCloud FileVault recovery, you can create a local recovery key. Keep the letters and numbers of the key somewhere safe—other than on your encrypted startup disk.