Cryptonite is a file encryption/decryption app for Android that is based on the EncFS. It is still in active development mode and only works with rooted phone for now. It allows you to create an encrypted volume in your Dropbox folder and place files/folders into it, or decrypt your existing encrypted volume and mount it as a local folder. In both scenarios, it gives you both read/write access to your files/folders.

1. Install Cryptonite from the Play Store.

2. Once installed, run the app. There are three option tabs at the top – Dropbox, Local and Expert. The Dropbox tab is where you can create encrypted volume, or decrypt an encrypted volume in Dropbox. The Local tab gives you option to create an encrypted volume in your Android storage (SD card). The Expert tab comes with a terminal that allows you to run commands. This is for Advanced users only. Use it only if you are proficient enough and know what you are doing.

3. At the Dropbox tab, tap the button “Link With Dropbox”. When prompted, select “Full Access”. This allows Cryptonite to access your encrypted folder. Assuming that Dropbox is already installed in your phone, it will load the Dropbox app and prompt you to grant permission to Cryptonite. Select “Allow”.

4. Back to the main screen, select “Decrypt Dropbox folder”. It will then prompt you to select the encrypted folder and enter the password. Once it is done, the “Browse decrypted folder” and “Forget decryption” button will become active.

5. Tap on the “Browse decrypted folder” button and you will be able to access to your encrypted files. At the moment, there is no in-app editor for you to view and edit your files. You will have to export the file to your SD card, view or edit it, then re-upload back to the encrypted folder. Don’t forget to delete the files after you have edited it.

If you are paranoid about the privacy of your data, one alternative mean is to create an encrypted volume in your Android SD card (with Cryptonite). Mount the encrypted volume. Export your Dropbox files to this mounted volume. (The default mounted volume is at csh.cryptonite -> mnt folder). In this case, the exported file will be encrypted and you can edit it as well.

Lastly, I would advise you to password protect this Cryptonite app. It wouldn’t be good if anyone can access your encrypted files/folders without your permission.

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1. Add “Encrypt” to Context Menu for Files

Microsoft included file encryption in Windows Vista and 7 to allow you to make parts of your file system inaccessible to others. The operating system does this by scrambling the contents of a file or folder with a passphrase determined by a security certificate. As long as you can keep the certificate, you can also decrypt the file. This is especially useful when you share a folder across the network and don’t want peeping toms to see what is in some of your files. Others can also try to access the files using a LiveCD operating system, which will also fail. To quickly encrypt a file or folder through Windows without having to scramble around in the file/folder properties, you can do a simple registry tweak at:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Just add a DWORD value called “EncryptionContextMenu” to that key and set the value at “1″. You’re all set!

2. Give Your Start Menu a Classic Programs List

Remember the programs list from Windows 2000? You can still have this in Windows Vista/7, even if the option doesn’t exist, by a simple registry modification that would help you achieve the given result. People might have their reasons for switching over to the classic list, perhaps because it feels more comfortable, but the Windows 7 programs list blows anything else out of the water. Since we have no objection on the opinion of others, we’ll show you how to bring the 2000 programs list to Windows 7. Time to get retro!

First, go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell

Double-click “Favorites” on the right-hand side of the registry editor and edit the value to “C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs”. Replace “C” with the drive letter of your system drive (where Windows is installed).

Now, head over to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

Edit the “Favorites” value on this key to the same value you edited the other one to. Now, right-click the Start button and click “Properties.” Navigate to the “Start Menu” tab and click “Customize.” In the new dialog, make sure that the “Favorites menu” box has a check mark next to it. Click “OK” and reboot your computer. You’ll see a “Programs” menu on the “Start” menu. Enjoy!

3. Add Recycle Bin to “My Computer”

Your drives are on it, so why not also see the recycle bin? It’s illogical for Windows not to have noticed the discrepancy. Let’s modify this a bit ourselves, shall we?

To do this, head over to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace

Create a new key under “NameSpace” called “{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}.” Now, just open your “My Computer” window. It should show up.

Got Trouble?

If you have any problems accomplishing the steps in this tutorial, let us know in the comments section below. We’d love to help you!

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Boot

First thing with Tails – it boots fast. Secondly, it is very well designed. Based on a Debian architecture, Tails proposes eleven languages for the system.

As a bonus, there is a camouflage option that makes the Gnome desktop look like Windows XP. No one will suspect what you are doing. To boot with the camouflage option, at the language selection screen, instead of pressing Enter at your selection, press Tab and then add “winxp” to the code that appeared. Here is the result:

Usage

Once your system has booted, you arrive at the simple Gnome desktop and Tor automatically launches itself.

The first evident use of Tails is surfing the web. For that, you are provided with a Vidalia as a GUI for Tor and Iceweasel as a web browser. The latter comes with a plethora of practical add-ons like HTTPS-Everywhere, Adblock Plus, or NoScript. All of these add-ons give you the necessary protection: encryption, protection from tracking cookies, script prevention, etc. Tails guarantees a maximum of privacy possible on the Internet.

As an extra, Tails also comes with aircrack-ng, a non graphical tool for checking the security of your network. If the Wi-Fi you are using is not protected enough, your packets could be sniffed by an intruder. That is why aircrack can try to break into your network as if you were the intruder, and reveal vulnerabilities.

On the other hand, a Tails session can be used as a “safe” environment to work on “sensitive” documents. You are provided with all the necessary software to view and edit files. OpenOffice, Audacity, Gimp, and more are included in the distribution. You will be able to edit Office files, watch videos, record sounds, and more, with the assurance of leaving no trace on the physical computer. Also, in the spirit of Debian, the default file manager to navigate among your folders is Nautilus.

Another usage of Tails would be for secure communications. If you know the chat client Pidgin, you will be glad to know that it comes by default with the plugin OTR, for “Off The Record”, that will encrypt your messages.

And if you are a fan of email clients, Thunderbird is also included with the extension Enigmail for the PGP encryption of your emails.

Finally, Tails can be used for the encryption of physical drives and folders. You can use the program TrueCrypt for a LUKS encryption.

Extras

On the same level, Tails comes with two programs in the system-tray: a copy-paste manager and a virtual keyboard. The latter is useful against key-loggers. In the case that the computer on which you are currently working physically records what you are typing, the virtual keyboard will assure you security.

The copy-paste manager, while useful, is also a security vulnerability by itself. I don’t know about you but I sometimes forget to erase it at the end of my session, and you never know what it might contain. Email addresses, URLs, passwords, any information that you copied into the clipboard can be accessed. Against that, the copy-paste manager in Tails propose a funny option: the encryption of your clipboard.

Also, Nautilus has been installed with the extensions for securely wiping files. In others terms, you can delete and be sure that no one will recover. For that: a simple right-click on a file, and then “Wipe” will do the job. The file will be erased and the space written over with random data in order to make any recuperation impossible. However, if you normally deleted a file and forgot to wipe it, there is also an extension for that. A right-click on a blank space will make the option “Wipe available disk space” appear. By using that command, all the files that were on a USB drive, for example, will be totally eradicated, even if normally suppressed before.

Finally, there is a last attack against which Tails is prepared: the cold-boot attack. When you shut down your PC, the RAM will take several minutes to completely erase its content. A cold-boot attack is when a hacker makes use of the delay to recover all the content of the RAM, which means practically everything you’ve done during your session. Even if the cold-boot attack is not regularly used, it is still a threat that users have to cope with. The good thing is, Tails automatically wipes and fills the RAM with random data at the end of your session.

Conclusion

Although Tails is still in its early version (0.10.1), it presents a couple of very well thought-out abilities. Its goal is very clearly established and developers are actively working towards it. I appreciated even more the invitations to give feedback and to report bugs. It is true that there are still a couple of areas that can be enhanced. There are still a couple of bugs in the winxp camouflage mode, and the mac changer program is currently not working, according to the wiki. But, as I said, Tails seems very promising and I can hardly find any other areas to improve.

And you? Have you tested Tails or something similar? Can you think of any weaknesses or fields that have not been treated? Are you using some other methods to protect your privacy? Please let us know in the comments.

Tails

Image credit: Privacy by BigStockPhoto

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We have discussed plenty of tricks to secure WordPress, and enabling SSL encryption for your login session is yet another useful way to secure your blog.

If you are not aware, while using SSL encryption, all your data are encrypted before they are transmitted over the web. The encrypted data format data format makes it very difficult to be read by the other users.

To enable the SSL Security to your WordPress blog, you will need to have a SSL Certificate (consult your web host if you don’t have one) and then you can follow the below procedure to make it work with your blog.

• At first, Open your site directory either using cPanel File Manager or the FTP. I would recommend to use the File Manager instead of FTP.
• Once you reach the files directory of your WordPress installation, open the wp-config.php file.
• This is the WordPress configuration files and it is the most important in the whole WordPress system. After the file is opened, add the below code and save the file. You can add the code anywhere in the file, there’s no certain place for it.

/* Enable SSL Encryption */
define(‘FORCE_SSL_LOGIN’, true);
define(‘FORCE_SSL_ADMIN’, true);

• From then on, your WordPress site Admin area will always load with the SSL Encryption. If your site domain is http://www.mydomain.com, it will load the admin area of the same with https://www.mydomain.com/wp-admin.

There are so many advantages of using the SSL for your site. The above process will force WordPress to use SSL encryption for the Administration area. It is not necessary to enable SSL encryption for the frontend (unless you are running a blog shop) since all the confidential information, like the Username and Passwords are used only in the Admin area, not anywhere else.

Image Credit: Reevoo.com

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The Ubuntu One Encrypt/Decrypt script is a simple Nautilus script that allows you to encrypt/decrypt your files and folder from the context menu. It is easy to use and doesn’t require any configuration.

Note: The script only works in Gnome Nautilus.

1. Download the Ubuntu One Encrypt/Decrypt script from Gnome-look

2. Save the script to the /home/username/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts folder.

3. Right click on the script and select Properties. Go to the Permission tab and check the box “Allow executing file as program”.

Press Alt + F2 and enter the follow command to restart Nautilus:

killall nautilus

4. Re-open Nautilus. Right click on any file/folder that you want to encrypt. Select “Scripts -> Ubuntu One Encrypt Decrypt script.sh”.

5. In the popup window, select “Encrypt”.

6. It will then prompt you to enter a strong passphrase.

Once it’s done, it will encrypt your file/folder and move it to your Ubuntu One folder. If it is a folder, it will first compress it before the encryption. This is what you will see in your Ubuntu One folder after the encryption.

Decryption

To decrypt a file/folder, you have to first copy the encrypted file/folder from the Ubuntu One folder and paste it to another location (the script won’t work within the Ubuntu One folder). Right click on the encrypted file/folder and select “Scripts -> Ubuntu One Encrypt Decrypt script.sh”. This time, select Decrypt.

Once authenticated, the script will proceed to decrypt the file. If it is a folder, the script will untar the compressed file and restore the actual folder.

Advantages

1. Easy to use.

2. Good for storing backup of files/folders that you seldom use.

Disadvantages

1. It is not dynamic. You have to encrypt/decrypt the file/folder every time you want to access it.

2. It doesn’t sync your file/folder. You have to repeat the same process again every time you add/remove files to/from a folder or make changes to a file.

Note: This script will work for Dropbox as well. You just have to open the script in a text-editor and change every instance of “Ubuntu One” to “Dropbox” (assuming your dropbox folder is /home/username/Dropbox). Your encrypted file will then be saved to the Dropbox folder.

Download Ubuntu One Encrypt/Decrypt

Image credit: Big Stock Photo

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Because of this reality, it is important for torrent file sharers to find ways to protect themselves from litigation, prosecution, bandwidth shaping, and malware. The following tips should help you make your torrent experience safer, private, and more secure.

Disclaimer: Downloading copyrighted media without the owner’s permission is illegal is some countries. Under no circumstances is this article intended to encourage illegal activity, and there are no guarantees that this information will protect you from any legal action.

1. Port Forwarding

Every modern router has some form of port forwarding that you can use for your bittorrent client. With it, you can circumvent ISPs that may block common torrent ports or limit their bandwidth usage. Using port forwarding, you could, for example, forward your BitTorrent traffic through the standard web port (80). Some torrent clients also support randomizing of ports so that they will use a different one every time you start them.

2. Limit Downloads and Uploads

Since many ISPs now limit the amount of bandwidth you can consume within a month (or even at certain times of the day), it is important to not let your torrent downloading and uploading go unchecked. Torrent clients like qBittorrent have features that allow you to limit the number, speed, and even time of day that downloads are allowed.

3. Encryption

Encryption is all about privacy. There is no reason for anyone, even your ISP to know exactly what sites you are visiting or what files you are downloading. Most torrent clients support some type of encryption for the data and/or header information. It is important to note that encryption will not mask your IP address, so anyone spying on the torrent (i.e. actively connected to the tracker) will still know you are downloading it, but anyone trying to spy on your Internet traffic in general will not be able to see what you are doing.

4. Filter Lists

There are plenty of organizations that are known for their snooping or malicious intent. With an IP filter list, you can completely block them from connecting to you as peers, thereby eliminating any chance of them monitoring you and catching you in the act of downloading something. This may also help reduce the chance that you will connect to a peer that sends out harmful data or malware.

5. Proxy or VPN

Of all of the security measures on the list, this is by far the most effective. By routing your torrent traffic through a proxy or VPN, you can completely hide yourself from the outside world. Used in combination with the other tools on this list, your torrent downloading will be virtually covert. Proxy providers usually charge a subscription fee, and they will require you to either download a specially configured bittorrent client or reconfigure yours to use their proxy (often utilizing a SOCKS5 protocol).

Your privacy, however, is only as secure as the company offering the service. If they are under investigation or are willing to sell your information, using their services may not help you at all. Therefore, it is a good idea to ask around and do your research before using a proxy or VPN service.

Privacy and Security

The media often associates BitTorrent with illegal file sharing, but there are numerous legitimate organizations, from Linux distribution developers to content delivery networks (CDN), that make use of bittorrent technology. Furthermore, many free media distributors who use open licenses, such as Creative Commons, use bittorrent to help reduce their bandwidth costs.

With a little effort, you can use the above-mentioned tools to help you take back your right to download and share legitimate content and software, while also maintaining your privacy and security.

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Why is this important to you? A mistake made by the Dropbox team few days back had left the Dropbox’s main door open for 4 hours. During this period, anyone can log into any account and access all the files in that account without any passwords. While this affects only 1% of its users (which amounts to about 250,000, and that is not a small number), if you are one of those whose accounts have been compromised and you have confidential files in your Dropbox, you better watch out for the bad things that might happen to you.

Since you never know when such incident will happen again, it is best to encrypt your files before you sync them to the cloud so there is a second level of defense when your account has been compromised.

1. SecretSync

SecretSync is a file-by-file encryption solution for Windows and Linux. Once installed, you will find a new “SecretSync” folder in your user directory. Any files that you place in this folder will be encrypted and sync to Dropox.

The installation and usage of SecretSync for Windows is pretty straightforward. You simply download, install and run it. it will then guide you through the encryption process.

For Linux, the usage is purely command-line based.

1. You have to first download the deb file and install it in your system.

2. Open a terminal and type

secretsync

This will run the installer and download the necessary files from SecretSync site. It will also run you through the setting up process.

After the installation, type

secretsync start

to start the SecretSync service. You should see a new SecretSync folder in your Home directory. Any files you place in this folder will be encrypted and synced to Dropbox.

Note: The latest version of SecretSync will add itself to the autostart item automatically. The following step is meant for the older version.

To get SecretSync to autostart everytime you login, go to “System -> Preferences -> Startup Applications” and create a new startup item.

SecretSync

2. Encfs

Encfs is a better solution than SecretSync because it stores the encryption keys on your local machine and it can work in Linux (natively), Windows (via BoxCryptor) and Mac (via MacFuse), which is great if you use Dropbox on more than one operating system.

In Ubuntu, open a terminal and type:

sudo apt-get install encfs
sudo addgroup <your username> fuse

To create an encrypted folder, type the command:

encfs ~/Dropbox/.encrypted ~/Private

The above command instructs encfs to create an encrypted hidden folder (with name .encrypted) in Dropbox and mount it in the Private Folder in your Home directory.

When it prompts you for the configuration option, press “p” follow by Enter.

Next, it will ask you to enter your password. Be very careful with what you type since it won’t appear in the screen.

That’s it. Whatever files you place in the Private folder will be encrypted and synced with Dropbox.

To get the encrypted folder to automount everytime you log in, you can use gnome-encfs.

1. Download gnome-encfs here (or grab the source here) to your Home folder.

2. Type the following command:

sudo install ~/gnome-encfs /usr/local/bin
gnome-encfs -a ~/Dropbox/.encrypted ~/Private

GUI for Encfs

In Linux, Cryptkeeper is an application that provides a graphical interface for encfs. It doesn’t come with the full configuration option for encfs, but if you need an easy way to get started quickly, this will be very useful.

In Ubuntu,

sudo apt-get install cryptkeeper

Cryptkeeper works as a system tray applet. If you are using Unity, use the following command to get it to work:

gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Panel systray-whitelist "['Cryptkeeper']"
setsid unity

BoxCryptor

BoxCryptor is not really a GUI for encfs, but its encryption method is compatible with encfs. If you have created an encrypted folder in Linux, you can use BoxCryptor in Windows to mount the same encrypted folder.

3. TrueCrypt

TrueCrypt is another powerful and cross-platform compatible encryption tool that you can use. We have mentioned it here and here, so we won’t go through it again.

One disadvantage of TrueCrypt is that you have to create a fixed size virtual container before you can use it. In addition, you can only get it to sync after you have unmounted it. This means that you won’t be able to sync your files in real time. Other than that, if you need a true cross-platform solution, then TrueCrypt is definitely the one for you.

That’s it. Which method do you use to secure your files in Dropbox?

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1. AxCrypt

AxCrypt is extremely easy to use and does not add any burden to your system resources.

The usage is simple. After the installation, simply right click on any file/folder and select “AxCrypt -> Encrypt“.

Enter your passphrase. Make sure that it is strong and no one else but you know it. Optionally, you can also specify a key file (using another file as a key to lock the file) to further enhance the security. If you don’t want to use your own file, you can get it to create a random key-file that you can use for encryption.

Note: Using a key file is a double-edged sword. While it enhances the security, if the key file is modified or lost, you won’t be able to access your password protected file forever.

By default, after you have entered the passphrase, AxCrypt will remember the passphrase throughout your session. This is to allow you to access your encrypted files without having to type the password everytime. Thus, it is important to set a password for your screen saver so no one can access your computer when you leave for a short while. Alternatively, you can also clear the passphrase memory when you need to go away.

Lastly, AxCrypt also comes with a “Shred and Delete” function to allow you to delete your file beyond recovery.

AxCrypt is available as a full installer and portable version. It is best to install the full version if you need the full functionality.

2. TrueCrypt

The next encryption method is using the popular TrueCrypt. There are many encryption options in TrueCrypt, and one of them is create a virtual encrypted disk within a file. To others, this is just a single file and they can’t open it without the password. To you, this virtual encrypted disk is the place where you store all your confidential files and folders.

To make it even more secure, you can make the volume hidden so others can’t see this encrypted file.

For usage of TrueCypt, check out this article.

Unlike AxCrypt, TrueCrypt works to encrypt a whole bunch of files/folders rather than protecting individual file. This is extremely useful if you have plenty of documents that need to be protected.

Conclusion

While there are many other commercial software that can protect your files and folders, for free software, AxCrypt and TrueCrypt are the best, in my opinion. Both of them work differently and serve different needs. For protecting individual file/folder, AxCrypt is a good choice. For mass protection, TrueCrypt is ideal.

Which software do you use to protect your files/folders?

Image credit: Dan4th

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Of course the safest option would be to avoid transmitting private data such as passwords, PINs, and bank account numbers over the internet; but there are times of urgency when sharing this information online cannot be avoided. For these times, CloudSafe is the best tool to use.

Introduction

CloudSafe is a brilliant web service that helps share sensitive data online. The site lets you upload any type of file and encrypts it using AES 256. You can then optionally grant your contacts access to your encrypted files. The way CloudSafe executes this process is what sets it apart from similar websites.

Functioning and Usage

To put it succinctly, CloudSafe creates virtual safes in the cloud i.e. on the internet. As a CloudSafe user you can create virtual safes that hold the encrypted files you upload. These safes have variable levels of access that give you a great control over how and with whom the safe’s contents are shared.

For each new safe you create, you can enter a name, description, and brief note. In the same stage that you enter this information, you can upload files from your computer to the safe. To ensure no additional files are mistakenly uploaded, the site does not support batch-uploads.

With your virtual safe created you can specify the type of access your contacts have to the safe. The different types of access include the ability to read and write data, a dual-permission procedure that requires 2 people to have each other’s permission to view the data, and a confirmation procedure that lets a person access the safe only after obtaining permission from another person.

These variable levels of access ensure that you have full control over the safe’s contents. They let you be precise when it comes to deciding who you share the data with and to what extent.

The people you share your safes with must be CloudSafe users. In case they are not CloudSafe users, an invitation email is sent to them. The notification of sharing your safe can be accompanied by a custom message that you choose to elaborate what you are sharing.

CloudSafe users to whom you have granted access, can view the safe and easily access its contents.

Your contacts can also view the level of access they have for your safes.

The contents are displayed in a user-friendly manner with the size and date of each file displayed. Users can download a file simply by clicking on its title.

Other ways of sharing your safe’s contents are by setting an access code or by enabling a feature called “WebDAV.” With WebDAV you can temporarily allow people not on CloudSafe to access your safe’s contents. WebDAV provides a URL to your safe along with a secure username and password to access the contained files.

People not on CloudSafe will be able to view your safe’s contents only after you share the public URL along with the WebDAV username and password. You can disable WebDAV anytime and revoke the access you had granted.

Pricing

The free account offered by CloudSafe allows a maximum of 3 safes with a total storage capacity of 1 GB. If at any time you require more safes or a greater storage, you can opt for the site’s premium services.

Conclusion

CloudSafe provides a valuable service to all of its users. Previously you had to avoid transmitting sensitive data online; but with CloudSafe you can save a ton of time by sharing files securely through encryption. Whether you need to share sensitive files for personal or business use, CloudSafe will serve perfectly.

You can visit CloudSafe over here.

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For the example, we are going to use a folder with the name “Important Files“. Right click the folder and select “Properties“:

Click “Advanced“:

Select “Encrypts contents to secure data” and select OK:

You can either just apply the attribute to a folder or apply it to all subfolders and files as well. In this case, I will apply the encryption to any children object, as files or subfolders:

That’s it. As you can see, it is very easy to encrypt a file/folder.

Now, most of you will start asking “where is the encryption key and how do I back it up?”

Backing up your encryption certificate

Windows store all the encryption detail in a certificate. This certificate acts like a key to your safe. If you lose your certificate (the key to safe), you won’t be able to access your files anymore. That’s why you need a backup file.

Go to the Start menu. Using the search function, type “manage encryption” (without quotes). Select “Manage file encryption certificates“:

A window appears. It shows information about what you can do with the utility. Press Next:

Select the certificate you want to backup. In this case, there is only one:

Select the location to backup your certificate and enter a password to protect the file. It is very important that you copy this file to other device, and of course that you remember the password:

Now, the program allows you to associate this certificate to previously encrypted files. In this case, as we are creating a backup copy, just press Next:

The utility will show a message with information, just press Close. Done!

For those who are looking to encrypt your USB drive, check out the Bitlocker to Go

Have you ever use Encryption File System before? Do you think is a handy feature or do you prefer something like Bit Locker?

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Luckily, there are several ways to encrypt your Internet connection on a public network, and one of my favorite is SSH tunneling. This may sound too technical a term for most of the casual users, but I can assure you that it is very easy to implement it.

What is SSH?

In short, SSH is a method (or technically, a protocol) that connects two computer in a secure encrypted manner. When two computers are connected via SSH, any data transfer between the two terminal are encrypted.  SSH Tunneling is simply a method where we use the connected  computer as a proxy to browse the web. When we browse the web (with our browser) via SSH tunneling, the proxy server will retrieve the web content and send it back to our computer via secure connection. Two major benefits of using SSH tunneling include:

1. Masking of your IP address
2. Secure connection to prevent hackers from sniffing out your data

SSH is mainly used in Linux and Mac, but Windows users can also use SSH with Cygwin.

Getting started

Before we start, there are a few things that you need to have:

• a SSH server.
• a SSH client. For Windows users, download Cygwin here.
• Login name and password to login to the remote computer

Note: If you own a website that is running on a third party web host, you already have a SSH server ready to use. You might need to your web host for permission to access via SSH.

On your Mac or Linux machine, open a terminal. Windows users open up the Cygwin application.

Type in the following command:

ssh -D 9999 login@domain.com

The default connection port for the SSH server is port 22, but this might vary across different SSH server. In this case, you will need to find the port number from your web host and enter in the command:

ssh -D 9999 -p PORT login@domain.com

where PORT is the port number to connect to.

The login is the name you are going to login while the domain can be an IP address or a domain name.

You will be prompted to enter your password.

Configuring your browser

In your browser, go to the options page and look out for the section to change your Proxy settings.

Check the button “Manual Proxy Configuration“. In the SOCKS field, enter “localhost” and 9999 for the port field.

Save and close the option page.

That’s it! Your connection are now secured.

Disconnect your SSH session

To disconnect from the SSH session, first, change the browser setting back to “Direct Internet Connection” (or whatever the previous setting).

Next, in your terminal, type

exit

This will disconnect your SSH session.

Have you tried SSH before? Share your experience in the comments.

Image credit: Dave Halley

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Although I have previously covered two useful software for encrypting USB drive: Windows 7 BitLocker and TrueCrypt, one thing that prevented me from using them on the move is that these two software require administrator privilege (or the ultimate version of Windows 7) to use, which in most Internet cafes, you don’t have access to.

There are also several others encryption software out there, but the one that worked well for me, and apparently free and does not require any administrator privileges is Rohos Mini Drive.

What Rohos Mini Drive does is to create hidden and encrypted partition on the USB flash drive memory. When you plug in your USB drive, you won’t get to see the hidden partition. Only when you run the Rohos application (within the USB drive) and enter your password, then will the hidden partition appear. Since the Rohos application does not require access (or modification) to the computer’s system, it doesn’t require any administrator privileges to run it. This is great for those who need to access their encrypted data on a public computer that they don’t have administrator access to.

Installing Rohos Mini Drive

The initial step to create an encrypted USB drive requires you to install and run the application in your own computer. This will require administrator privileges.

Download Rohos Mini Drive (Windows only).

Double click the application to install it in your computer.

Once the installation is done, insert in your USB drive. You don’t have to reformat the drive, but you have to make sure that there is enough space to create the new partition.

Open the Rohos Mini Drive application from the Start menu.

In the main window, click Setup USB Key

Rohos Mini Drive will proceed to detect your USB drive. Click Change to edit the partition configuration.

In the configuration window, you can configure the Disk letter that the hidden partition to be mounted to, the encrypted partition size (maximum 2GB), the file system type and the encryption algorithm. The last thing is to point the installation location to your USB drive. The encrypted file will come with a .rdi extension.

Click OK to proceed.

Back to the USB Key Creation window, enter your password and make sure that it is a safe one. Click Create Disk.

Encryption completed.

Now open your Windows Explorer and navigate to your USB drive. You should see only the Rohos Mini application (which was not there originally).

Double click the Rohos mini application. Enter the encryption password when prompted.

You should now see your hidden partition prompted in the drive letter that you have chosen earlier.

You can install all your portable apps or store your confidential data on the hidden partition now.

What other software do you use to encrypt your USB drive?

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In Windows 7, there is this new Bitlocker To-Go function that allows you to encrypt your USB drive. In the event that your drive is stolen, there is no way that others can access your data, unless he/she has your password.

If you have not installed Windows 7 on your computer, we do have a great tutorial that teaches you how to do so.

In your computer (the one running Windows 7), plug in your USB drive.

Go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Bitlocker Drive Encryption. Click Turn On Bitlocker for the removable drive option

You will be asked the method you want to use to unlock the drive (after encryption). There are two methods available: Password or Smart Card. Password is the easier one, but less powerful. In this case, I picked Password.

It will then prompt you to save/print your recovery key. This will come in useful if you have forgotten the password in the future.

Once you are done with the setting, click Next to start encrypting your USB drive. The whole process will take quite some time, depending on the size of your device.

You should see the following message when the encryption is done.

To check if your USB drive is really encrypted, unmount and remount the the USB drive. If the encryption is intact, it will prompt you to enter your password.

Note: If you are using a Windows version other than Windows 7 Ultimate, the Bitlocker To-Go encryption only allows you to read and copy files from the USB drive. You won’t be able to edit or add new files to the drive.

To decrypt the USB drive, simply follow the same procedure as above, but select Turn Off Bitlocker in the control panel.

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In your Mac, go to Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility.

Click on the New Image button.

Enter the information in the window.

In the Volume Size field, you can choose the size of the container that you want to create. There are several preset options, including various CD and DVD sizes. You can pick one from the dropdown list or define your own size with the Custom option.

Under the Encryption, select 128-bit AES encryption. There is also an option to choose 256-bit encryption, but that will slow down the whole process.

In the Image Format field, select read/write disk image.

Here is what you see after configuring:

Click Create to generate the disk image. It will prompt you for your password. Enter your password, make sure that it is a strong one.

Also, remember to uncheck the box “Remember password in my keychain“, else it will defy the purpose of encrypting your data.

Once the disk image is ready, you will be able to find it mounted on your desktop ready to be used. Open up the disk image in your Finder and drag (or copy and paste) your sensitive files into it. When you are done, simply unmount it. Anyone who wants to open the disk image to view the files within will have to enter the password that you have set.

That’s it. You have successfully created an encrypted disk image to contain all your confidential files. With this encrypted disk image, you can store it in a corner of your hard disk, bring it around in your flash drive or burn the disk images to your CD/DVD.

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