Tag: ENCRYPTION

WhisperCore is a new app for Android that lets you encrypt your system disk and/or SD card. It's free for personal use, and pricing for commercial use varies according to the size of deployment. WhisperCore uses 256 bit AES encryption, a popular choice in the encryption space, also seen in tools such as TrueCrypt and Linux Unified Key Setup. Once you install the app, you set a passphrase ...

Those of you who don't want your Twitter account 'jacked like so many unsuspecting Firesheep victims, take heed! Twitter has added an "always use HTTPS" option to its settings page for added security while you tweet, @mention, and DM. There's really no reason not to enable permanent HTTPS, so click the drop down by your avatar, choose settings, and then head all the way to the bottom of ...

What the Zuk is a (very) occasional feature, in which I review software that I have been using for many years, and which is instrumental for my work. These are the first tools I install on every new system, the reliable work-horse applications I turn to for every need. In each installment I will explain what makes this particular program special, and why I find it so vital for my computing ...

This weekend, Gawker Media had its primary database compromised. In this monstrous breach, not only did 1.5 million users have their privacy breached and email address stolen, but they also had their passwords cracked. In a day and age where the currency of our email address and password -- and thus our identity -- is only superseded by our bank details, it's fair to label the Gawker breach as ...

Ben the Bodyguard, a security app for iPhone that's slated to launch in January, has one of the best websites in recent memory. It's a scrollable, animated, HTML5-powered visual bonanza starring the titular bodyguard. Ben's a French tough guy, modeled after The Professional star Jean Reno, but a new piece from Fast Company suggests that users will be more impressed with Ben the character than ...

KeePass is an awesome password management utility. In fact, "awesome" is an understatement. It has transformed my computing experience and made my online life significantly more secure. I run KeePass and enter my obscenely long pass phrase multiple times every day; I trust KeePass so much that I don't even know the passwords to most websites I frequent. This includes some really important ...

Back in July of 2008, Truecrypt v6 introduced the ability to encrypt your system partition. It also brought support for multiple processors and an overall performance bump. Now, version 7 is out and it's the fastest TrueCrypt ever -- thanks to hardware accelerated encryption. If you're running a compatible CPU which sports the AES-NI instructions (most Intel Core i5 and i7 processors), you ...

Encrypt Text is a service by Encrypt Easy that lets you quickly and easily encrypt and decrypt Blowfish texts. The page features a rich text editor (NiceEdit, I rummaged around the sources a bit), and you can easily write whatever you want, set a password, and click Encrypt. You can then send the encrypted message over IM, email, or painstakingly handwritten snail mail. The recipient can decrypt ...

Archives are very easy to snoop into. Heck, Gmail looks into every ZIP archive you get, and won't let it through if it contains any executables. That's fine, and I can see the point of it. While you can get around GMail's rudimentary checking by simply opting for a different compression format (7z, anyone?), sometimes you want a bit of extra privacy for whatever is inside your archive. For those ...

Google has long offered the ability to use a secure, encrypted connection with Gmail simply by typing https at the start of the URL instead of http. Since 2008, you could opt to always use the secure connection method by tweaking your settings. Now Google has flipped the switch and made https connections the default. You have to uncheck that option if you want to go back to using a less secure ...

I don't often need to send ultra-secure messages to people. There's just not all that much highly-sensitive information I need to communicate. If I did, though, Norbt would be a slick way to do it. Norbt (not to be confused with Eddie Murphy's epic film character) uses client side, browser-based cryptography to secure your transmissions. Your recipient must correctly answer the secret question. ...

Rohos Mini Drive is a free Windows utility that will let you create a hidden, password-protected and encrypted partition on any USB flash drive. In theory you could use the software on your hard drive as well, but it really comes in handy if you have a tendency to carry sensitive data around on flash drives but also have a habit of accidentally leaving them lying around. When you plug a drive ...

Truecrypt has been a trusted name in on-the-fly encryption for ages (v5 arrived in February). What's new in version 6? Plenty. One of the biggest advances is support for multiple processors, which provides a boost in the encryption/decryption speed equal to the number of processors/cores in use. Other tweaks have increased the overall speed by as much as 20% in some operations - on top of the ...

Have some files on your PC that you'd rather not have your roommate looking at? Want to send some top secret government documents over email without the risk of someone intercepting your email and reading your files? Flexcrypt Folder is a free encryption utility for Windows that can password protect any group of files for you. Once you've installed Flexcrypt Folder, all you have to do is highlight ...

Have you ever lost track of your password protected files? Maybe during one of your compulsive file-moving and file-deleting extravaganzas? Passware Encryption Analyzer is a free program that will track down all your encrypted and password protected files, no matter where they are hiding on your machine. Whether the files are in the glorious sunlight of your desktop, or in the deep dark cave of ...