Deep Jive Interests

So I bring a USB jump drive on occasion to work, in case I need to bring power point presentations, or work on papers and the like.

And an idea popped into my head the other day (two, actually):

1. It would be great if I had a mini suite of “portable apps” to take with the USB drive.
2. It would be swell if I also had a way of protecting my data.

The issue of PortableApps is actually a bit of an old one — and there are a variety of suites available.

PortableApps.com is one — the site looks pretty slick.
TheInfobox.com is another — a *really* comprehensive suite of apps.

(Continued a little further in “Part I”, which will be published at a later date)

Anyway, as I started to look in on things, I noticed TheInfoBox has a nice little intro for TrueCrypt – a program that will literally Encrypt your Data on the fly.

There are a whole raft of programs like this, such as FreeOTFE (“On the Fly Encryption”), Private Disk of Light, amongst others.

As I understand it, they work, by quoting the omi-knowledgable wikipedia:

“On-the-fly” refers to the fact that the files are accessible immediately after providing the key, and the entire volume is typically mounted as if it were a physical drive, making the files just as accessible as any unencrypted ones.

On-the-fly encryption requires the use of device drivers enabling the encryption process to be transparent to the end user. Typical advantages of OTFE are that encryption takes place without user intervention, and that a single password encrypts almost unlimited data.

Basically the sexy part of if it is once you’ve provided the key, you specify a drive or partition or a file you want to target, and then proceed to “mount it” as though it were a drive in and of itself.
Say for instance you have a folder you want to target — the software will enable you to select it, then click on a “mount” button. Well sure enough, it now appears under “My Computers” as another drive!

Now you can proceed to do whatever you like in that drive — edit data, copy data, apparently even play video in that drive — and the software in the background, encrypt things as it goes.

When you’re done, you *unmount* your drive and you can walk away.

Did I mention that mounting and unmounting are unbelievably fast? Like almost blink of an eye fast?
And the encryption on the fly doesn’t slow down your PC either?

More conventional techniques to encrypt your data require you to open up a separate program every time you want to decrypt before you do anything, and then encrypt things when you’re done.

While it sounds like a similar process (mount vs. un-encrypt and unmount vs. encrypt), the difference really is *speed*. On-the-fly-encryption is really fast. As the name implies, its happening “on-the-fly” as you’re working. Mounting and unmounting (or dismounting?) takes literally no time at all.

With convention programs, the process of encrypting or decrypting can take in the order of minutes if your folders are large.

You can see the allure of OTFE protocols!
Well — that’s my experience, anyway.

The frustratingly hair-pullingly experience is when you try things in the real world.

I imagine most people want to use their USB drive in cafes, libraries, or at work, where they can lug around their suite of apps, and still protect their data, using this technique.

Well, much to my utter chagrin, when I tried using my USB drive at work, I couldn’t use TrueCrypt to mount my volume and access my data.

At all.

It turns out that with *all* OTFE Programs, you need to have administrative privileges, or have the administrator install TrueCrypt for you. It has to do with being able to access Device Drivers.

(A good discussion about it is found at 2BrightSparks forum. )

Now — in the “real world”, how often are you going to be able to

1. Find someone with administrative privileges
2. Get them to care about installing TrueCrypt or
3. Giving you temporary administrative privileges, so you can work

Well, I think the chance is nil.

Needless to say, I was disappointed.

Clearly is a solution best suited to home or personal use where those sort of privileges are easily accessed and granted (if not the default).

And left with trying other solutions that don’t require administrative privileges, but the problem is that they’re so damned slow! Kudos to 2BrightSparks for trying with EncryptOnClick, but sadly I don’t find its tremendously better than any of the competition.

(whew).

Anyway, the search goes on, I suppose. If I find anything we’ll keep you updated!