Windows 10: Encryption: Which App To Use?

Hey guys, I don't mean to be a pest as I know this is an extremely busy forum, but I need some help.

So, I want to make my HDD's more secure by using encryption. I've been using Truecrypt and it's perfect for me, but everyone keeps telling me I need to move onto another encryption method because Truecrypt is no longer supported.

I'm running Windows 10 Pro and I've used Bitlocker a couple times to encrypt external HDD's, but how does it work if I encrypt a HDD like an external or internal HDD using Microsoft Bitlocker? If I connect a Mac to it, how could the Mac decrypt it?

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my post!

:)

 

Universal apps cannot access EFS encrypted files?

The "Windows apps troubleshooter" didn't solve the problem.

Let me reiterate the issue:

It seems Universal Apps cannot access files that were encrypted using EFS (right-click > Properties > Advanced > "Encrypt (...)").

They can access normal files with no problem.

Just for testing, I created another admin account in the system, logged in with it (without logout out from my account), then tried to access my encrypted Pictures folder.

I could see and enter all sub-folders without a problem, but I couldn't access the encrypted files themselves (which is good for security).

I don't know the architecture of UWP, but maybe the process that actually accesses the files is running under a different user? That could explain why the Photos app can't see the encrypted pictures.

Do you see any solution for this (besides not encrypting the files)?

 

Encrypting Win10 hard drive

Firstly it's a very good idea to encrypt your drive as a matter of course. If you lose your laptop or it gets stolen, then even if you have a strong user account password, there are still relatively simple ways to extract your data.

Secondly, if your Laptop comes with Windows 10 Pro, then it will have Bitlocker included, with which you can seamlessly encrypt your drive - you won't know it's even there in terms of using your computer.

There are third-party apps which will allow you to encrypt just one folder - to be honest, I don't see the point when you can encrypt the whole drive...

 

First thing to be aware of is that Mac OS X doesn't have native NTFS support, at least up to Mavericks version, haven't checked the latest 2, El Capitan or Sierra. And I haven't found a decent third-party software, so I store all the files I want to share between Windows, Mac OS X and Linux on a NAS drive attached to my Router by Ethernet cable. Second thing is any encryption software would have to be cross-platform, work on the OSes desired. A demonstration of cross-platform support would be having the free LibreOffice installed on the 3 I mentioned, work fine for me in their commonality.

 

Thanks so much for your reply!

Would it be better for me to just create encrypted containers instead of encrypting the entire HDD?

 

That's the way I'd go as encrypting the whole drive would cause loss of everything if there were problems.

If concerned by loss of critical data it would be good to use an External USB HDD to store and stash away somewhere secure such as in one of the fire-resistant lockboxes like Sentry, a safe or a bank safety deposit box.
| Sentry® Safe | Home Safes Business Safes Gun Safes Data Safes Auto Safes

 

Wow, thanks for your brilliant ideas!

Are there any other downsides of encrypting the whole drive? It seems like creating encrypted containers is much better...?

 

It also seems to take much more time to encrypt the whole drive compared to creating encrypted containers so are there any advantages to encrypting the whole drive?

 

or use the fork of TrueCrypt ie VeraCrypt
VeraCrypt - Home

 

I second VeraCrypt. I can't answer your question about a whole drive because I never did it.

 

Can anyone confirm if Veracrypt is a safe to use? How can I check if it's a reputable app that doesn't contain malicious code? This is important because I'd be storing my most sensitive personal files in Veracrypt...

 

we can never be sure but Veracrypt is open source
and the source code is published on well known site veracrypt/VeraCrypt

 

Thanks!

Be great if there was a list of apps that were considered safe by the experts on tenforums.com's community.

 

Nothing is really safe - government security organisations have a very long reach.

 

How can I protect myself from installing apps that contain malicious code?