VeraCrypt

As the internet opens up our information to a new breed of criminal, security has understandably become a booming business. But while firewalls, VPNs, and antivirus software can provide you with dense layers of protection from intrusion, some consumers demand more. Whether you're a business owner looking to keep your privileged information safe or just a security-conscious individual, encryption adds a whole new component of safety to your private information. Encryption basically rewrites your files in a hidden code, requiring password access to unlock. There are a number of brands of encryption software available today, but many are expensive and scaled only to the demands of large businesses. Unlike software like BitLocker, VeraCrypt doesn't require a Pro or Enterprise edition of Windows to work, and its versatility makes it scaleable to your needs whether you're looking to lock away a single file or your entire computer drive. VeraCrypt is designed for use on all versions of the Windows operating system but it also runs well on Linux distributions and the macOS. The codes used to hide files are known as ciphers, and no two are created equally. TwoFish, Serpent, and AES are all supported in VeraCrypt, and they're well regarded as some of the most reliable ciphers around. VeraCrypt is also an open source project. That brings with it a number of important advantages. Since anyone is free to work on VeraCrypt, the tools it runs on are more transparent, and security holes can be more effectively identified and fixed with this higher level of scrutiny. It also means that IT professionals at your company can audit the software to make sure it's running at the level of capacity that you expect. While it's not the most user friendly piece of encryption software around, that doesn't mean that VeraCrypt is difficult to use. Owners should be able to get started pretty quickly even if they have little to no technical experience. Encrypting individual files is exceedingly simple and operates using a pretty standard file manager, but encrypting an entire system requires a little more work. Users will have to create a recovery disk to back up their data in case something goes wrong, but this process also creates a decoy operating system so you can decrypt your OS will still keeping your sensitive data secure. You can even create security layers by encrypting files and then creating deeper levels of password-locked information within. This is a great option for those in an office environment, as it allows your whole system to be secured with password-specific privileges being presented to individual users. Encryption happens automatically and in real time for a speedier process, and virtually encrypted disks can be created within a file and then mounted to a rael physical disk.