TrueCrypt

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With the gradual move to laptops (easy to steal) and USB flash drives (easy to lose), data security is becoming increasingly important. Why not hide and encrypt data that you don't want others to access? TrueCrypt creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk which can only be accessed with a password. No data stored on an encrypted volume can be read (decrypted) without using the correct password/keyfile(s) or correct encryption keys. Entire file system is encrypted (e.g.., file names, folder names, contents of every file, free space, meta data, etc). TrueCrypt never saves any decrypted data to a disk – it only stores them temporarily in RAM (memory). Even when the volume is mounted, data stored in the volume is still encrypted. When you restart Windows or turn off your computer, the volume will be dismounted and files stored in it will be inaccessible (and encrypted). Even when power supply is suddenly interrupted (without proper system shut down), files stored in the volume are inaccessible (and encrypted). To make them accessible again, you have to mount the volume (and provide the correct password and/or keyfile).

For those who are interested, you can choose from several encryption algorithms, including AES-256, Blowfish (448-bit key), CAST5, Serpent, Triple DES, and Twofish. I don't know what this means, but it sounds good!

Available from http://www.truecrypt.org/