Encrypting Portable Flash Drives

No matter your profession—business owner, student, professor or a stay-at-home parent—you most likely own a USB Flash Drive. And why wouldn’t you? USB flash drives are great. They allow you to store important documents and files so that you have access to them on-the-go. But if you lose your USB flash drive and it gets in the wrong sets of hands? Not so great.
Think about it—not only can a stranger get access to all sorts of personal information such as photos, home addresses and phone numbers which makes you extremely vulnerable to identity theft, but malicious people may also gain access to business secrets and other sensitive information that can lead to your downfall as well.
That said, it’s important that you learn how to encrypt your USB in case you ever lose it or worse, someone steals it. And if you are unaware of what encryption means, it’s simply referring to the act of protecting your files via a secure password that only you know.usb privacy
That said, there are tons of services that will allow users to encrypt their flash drive devices, but most encrypting software costs money. TrueCrypt on the other hand is free and relatively easy to use—and with more than 20,167,796 downloads since its inception, it is by far the most popular open-source encryption service on the market.
Upon downloading the service, the TrueCrypt Wizard creation screen should walk you through the process of installation. But if things get too complicated, refer to these directions listed below after you’ve downloaded and installed TrueCrypt to learn how to step up a basic encryption in 10 easy steps.
*Disclaimer: We have no affiliation with TrueCrypt. We have tested out the product through word-of-mouth and were impressed with the results.
1. Plug-in an empty USB flash drive into your computer’s USB port.
2. Open TrueCrypt to launch it. Then click on “Create Volume.” The TrueCrypt Volume Creation Wizard screen should appear. Then click on “encrypt a non-system drive.” Click “next” to finalize the decision. This should take you to the “Volume Type” screen.
3. While at the “Volume Type” screen, you want to select “Standard TrueCrypt Volume.” Click “next.” This should take you to the “Volume Location” screen.
4. While at the “Volume Location” screen click on “select device” which is located on the far right hand side. Choose your USB device. Click on “next.” This should take you to the “Volume Creation Mode” screen.
5. While at the “Volume Creation Mode” screen, click on “create encrypted volume and format it.” Click “next.” This should take you to the “Encryption Options” screen.
7. While at the “Encryption Options” screen, it’s recommended to leave all of the default settings and just click “next.” This should take you to the “Volume Size” screen.
8.  While at the “Volume Size” screen, you will notice that all of the sections will be masked and the size of your USB will appear. Just click “next.”
9. You will then reach a “Volume Password” screen. Here you will be advised to choose a 20-character long password. Once the password in confirmed click “next.” You will immediately be sent to the “Large Files” screen. Just click “no” and then click next to move on to the “Volume Format” screen.
10. Finally, at the “Volume Format” screen the wizard will ask you to increase the intensity of protection by moving your mouse in a circulation motion over a specific area. The more squiggles you draw, the more intense the protection will be.  Click on the “format” when you feel you’ve drawn enough marks. It will then ask you if the info is correct. Take a short run through to double check and then press “ok” to confirm its accuracy. And viola! You’re all set up.
Author Info :
Alvina Lopez is a freelance writer and blog junkie, who blogs about accredited online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: alvina.lopez @gmail.com.