Data protection and security are very important assets nowadays when you store sensitive data on your computer or Pendrive/flash drive, you always have fear of stolen and misuse of data.
If you have saved some important official documents on Pendrive and by bad luck, you lost the pen drive. The person who got your lost device may misuse of your data.
For the example, you have a text/excel file which has user name and password. You stored file inside Pendrive and other private photos.
One day you lost it in college/office or somewhere else. The person will able to see your password, photos, and other sensitive data from the Pendrive who got it.
Now you can imagine how harmful to storing important files into pendrive, but if you will not store sensitive data into external device / Pendrive /Flash drive. then where will you store the data.
You don’t have the option to store data rather than the external device, You will have more risk of data without backup it.
The encryption is the only method for the prevention of data misuse.
What is encryption for Data protection
In computer terminology, Encryption is a process which makes your data unreadable for others without proper authorization, it changed information or data in a code only readable by entering authorized key.
if you have enabled the encryption then only you can read data or another person you have authorized key. it means you or another person who has the encryption key only can make data readable.
When you store data in an encrypted format, it will not be accessible by the third person without having an appropriate key/password.
The encryption process can be done by using some third-party software there is a lot of the software available in the market for the encryption which helps you to encrypt the file, folder, full partition, and full hard disk and even complete operating system.
Some software comes pre-installed on the Windows operating system which helps you to encrypt the data as well as Pendrive.
If you don’t want to use high encryption then you can use pre-installed software.
But if you are looking for the extra layer of the security then you will have to use the third-party software.
Some software is paid and other software for free if you have enough budget to buy paid software then go for it otherwise go for free.
If you are out of money, don’t worry, still, you can encrypt your pen drive or other data and protect it because there are much free software available for the encryption which is working good and fine.
Encryption Software
- Paid Encryption Software with good discount
- Pre-Installed Encryption Software in Windows 10
- Free Encryption software
- Conclusion
Paid Encryption Software with good discount
#1 Gihosoft File Encryption Tool
Gihosoft File Encryption is a tool for windows and mac for into encrypting files or folders on a computer with the password you set. When you are going to set the password always keep password policy before setting the password.
The password you set should be familiar to you and difficult for others to guess or break. So the password will not crackable by using a dictionary attack or brute force attack.
And you’d better use a less important file/folder to have a try with this kind of software. Next, you can learn about how to use this Gihosoft File Encryption step by step. Tutorial
#2 AxCrypt for Windows
I also recommend AxCrypt for Windows, MAC, and mobile. I has premium and business paid a subscription. It is also an excellent free file encryption software for Windows 10/8/7.
As a free, open-source, and GNU GPL licensed encryption software, it is proud of its simplicity, efficiency, and ease of use. It integrates well with the Windows shell, so you can right-click on the file to encrypt it.
Must know features of AxCrypt:
Strong encryption
A key length of 128 bits is sufficient in most cases, except where rules and regulations or personal preference stipulate a higher level. AxCrypt Premium offers 256-bit encryption which is the strongest standardized encryption available, and is used for secret and top secret information all over the world.
Easy to work with
Keeping your files secured should not be difficult and AxCrypt makes it easier than ever to do so. Open, edit and share a secured file directly with double-click.
Cloud storage awareness
AxCrypt will automatically find what Cloud Storage services are installed on your computer and create an AxCrypt folder there. We make it easy for you to automatically view and keep the files secured on these folders.
Collaboration
Sharing a secured file is made directly from the AxCrypt software by choosing the secured file, click the share button and simply select the team member you want to share it to. The recipient just needs a free AxCrypt ID and will be automatically invited via email if necessary. The invitation email contains instructions on how to view and edit the file.
Password management
You can store all your passwords and codes online in a secure manner using the password management feature.
Secured folders
AxCrypt secures files, individually. However, you can designate folders as ‘secured’. The folders will be monitored for new files, and AxCrypt will secure all new files with a single click, or when you sign out.
You can also select multiple files, including all files in a folder, to be secured in a single operation. They still remain individual files, and the folder itself is not secured, just the files in it.
Multilingual
AxCrypt speaks English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Russian and more to come.
Download : AxCrypt for Windows
Pre-Installed Encryption Software in Windows 10
#3 Encrypting File System EFS in Windows
If you are looking for to encrypt Only files and folders in the Windows operating system then this method is 100% for you. The encrypted file system is a feature integrated with the NTFS file system in Windows 10 by default.
With the help of EFS, you can encrypt the files and folders only readable by current Operating system. If you have encrypted data by Vijay username then you can’t access encrypted data by another user name.
Neither you can access by other windows nor another user. The same user on the same windows will able access this data.
If you want to make encrypted data readable from other computers then you will have to use an encryption certificate or key.
You must take a backup of certification key for any type of disaster with your windows. Possible disasters are windows crash, user deletion, change username and more.
For more details, you can follow the given link
How to encrypt files and folders by EFS Windows 10
#4 Bitlocker Encryption in Windows 10
Bitlocker encryption is a high level of the encryption where a person can encrypt a hard drive partition a pen drive or other External flash drives. Basically BitLocker drive encryption is a data protection method that integrated window operating system and protects data theft lost stolen misuse of your data.
It is able to encrypt the whole drive partition. If you want to learn about Pendrive lock, Pendrive data encryption, hard disk drive encryption or complete hard drive encryption then I have written full article related BitLocker windows 10 encryption.
You can learn all about BitLocker by following given link:
How to Enable bitlocker windows 10 encryption – Full Guide
Free Best Encryption software
#5 Veracrypt – Best Free encryption software
In full disc encryption method you can not only encrypt single partition even you can encrypt the whole operating system even the system partition, where you have to install the operating system like drive c but you need to install third-party software for a full description, for example, veracrypt/truecrypt. Truecrypt is outdated and no more available for use, and veracrypt is a replacement of TrueCrypt.
Please read the full tutorial on Veracrypt by following the link.
How to use VeraCrypt portable, Truecrypt replacement in windows 10
