External hard drives are a convenient way to store and transport data. They make backing up your important data easy. But wherever important documents are stored, security is a concern.
You take the time to protect your personal data on your computer. Your backup is just a copy of that information. It needs protection, too. Plus, an external hard drive is fairly easy to steal or lose. You don’t want it falling into the wrong hands.
An ounce of protection
Protecting an external hard drive is actually pretty easy. Encryption is the best solution. This won’t detract from the convenience of an external hard drive. And no one will be able to access it without your password.
Some external hard drives come with built-in encryption. But the encryption probably has to be enabled. Check the drive’s manual for instructions.
If yours doesn’t include encryption, you’re not out of luck. You can encrypt the data yourself. You can create an encrypted container with Cryptainer LE. This allows you to protect a few important documents. But the rest of the drive can be accessed without a password.
If you want to encrypt everything, there’s a program for that, too. TrueCrypt allows you to encrypt an entire drive. That way all of your data is protected. You can use TrueCrypt on Windows and Mac OS X machines.
US $14.98
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