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Tips For Choosing Encryption Software
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- Does the company selling the encryption product make claims that are unrealistic. A
company that claims it's encryption can not be broken is attempting to mislead you. Any
encryption can be broken if enough effort, time, money and computing power is used.
As a consumer a more realistic question for you to consider is how long and how much
effort would be required to break the encryption a product uses.
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- Does the company claim to use their own special or proprietary encryption process
(algorithm)? Do they try to keep information regarding the encryption process they
use a secret? If you answered yes to either of the previous questions I suggest
you purchase your encryption software from a different company/vendor. Good
encryption takes time and skill to develop. It also needs to be reviewed by other
cryptographers (people who develop encryption processes and standards). The review
process must include attempts by others to break the encryption process (algorithm)
used.
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Some of the more common encryption algorithms/standards currently used include AES
(Advanced Encryption Standard), Twofish, RSA (Rivest, Shamir, Leonard, the 3 men
credited with developing the algorithm), Triple DES (Data Encryptions Standard), IDEA
(International Data Encryption Standard) and Blowfish. You may want to consider choosing
encryption software that uses one of these industry standard encryption types.
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- No encryption or security software can offer complete protection all of
the time and in all situations. However, well chosen encryption software can
significantly increase the security and privacy of any information you store on
your home or SOHO (small office, home office) computer/s.
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Encryption Tools You Can Use
In the following pages I preview a few encryption applications/programs you can
use to help protect your privacy and security. I include encryption solutions
to help protect the information stored on your computer. I also include solutions
and recommendations to protect the privacy of your e-mail, your passwords and
account information.
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The encryption programs/applications I discuss for this article are freely
available for download from the Internet. The one exception is EFS (Encrypting File System)
which is included at no additional cost with select versions of Microsoft windows
starting with Windows 2000. I've focused on FREE encryption solutions to offer
you a no cost opportunity to begin using encryption. Don't let the fact that these
encryption programs are FREE discourage you from using them. They are well tested,
quality applications that have received good reviews by other users, reviewers
and developers.
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| The table below includes the encryption software/applications I cover in the
remainder of this article. Click a product title to learn more about it.
Click "Next >" at the bottom of the page to review each product and tutorial
sequentially.
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| Product |
Description |
Tutorial |
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| AxCrypt
| Easy to use strong file and folder encryption, integrated with Windows
Explorer. Encrypt, compress, decrypt, wipe, view and edit with a few mouse clicks.
Encrypt/protect data/files to include spreadsheets, database files and Word
documents that hold important personal and or customer information. |
YES |
| EFS
| Encryption system built into versions of Microsoft Windows beginning with
Windows 2000 Pro. Use to encrypt/protect individual files and folders. |
YES |
| Cryptainer LE
| This free 128-bit file, folder, and disk-encryption software encrypts and
password protects any file or folder. You can encrypt and secure data on removable
drives, flash disks, CD-ROM's or any external drive, including USB and Pen. You
can also encrypt files/data to be sent by e-mail. |
YES |
| Self Decrypting Files
| Encrypt important personal or business information you send by e-mail. |
YES |
| DecypherIT
| Cryptainer LE can be used to encrypt important information you send by e-mail.
DecypherIT is a FREE utility used to decrypt these encrypted files. |
YES |
| Password Agent Lite
| Stores, organizes and encrypts your important passwords, usernames and notes. |
YES |
| TrueCrypt
| Create a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mount it as a real disk.
Encrypt an entire hard disk partition or a device, such as USB flash drive.
Automatically and transparently encrypt in real time. Encrypts a partition or
drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication). One of my favorite
encryption applications. |
YES |
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