I had the need to consider encryption of a flash drive for various reasons. Hell, you could justify it under “don’t be stupid” if you’d like. Having not really ventured into this arena before, I thought I’d write down the step-by-step-guide for anyone who just wants security without thinking about it.
The steps
Optional step 2 will explain all that’s required in detail but the following gives the TLDR version.
- Download and install TrueCrypt
- Optionally read the Tutorial
- mount/insert flash device
- start TrueCrypt
- click “Create Volume”
- pick the location you want on your flash drive
- select “Serpent-Twofish-AES” if you’re just encrypting documents etc; larger file volumes than this would be slow
- select the maximum size that you’d like the volume to take. This should be based on your expected usage. 5GB should suffice for hundreds of word documents
- enter a good password e.g. lk#J4z._1Q41-lN$1″H6c!O
- click “finish”
Now you’ve got a “container” that’ll be heavily encrypted. What you’ll need now is to tell TrueCrypt to “mount” it.
Mounting your new volume
- Open TrueCrypt
- click “Select File” & navigate to your previously created container on your flash device
- click “mount”
- enter the password
Now you’ll have a mounted volume assigned to a “drive” letter e.g. “K”. Stick your files in here and they’ll be included in the volume for encryption.
When you’re ready to remove the device make sure you “dismount” in TrueCrypt!
Enjoy 