Encrypt Your Precious Data with Hardware and Software

Encrypt Your Precious Data with Hardware and Software

With malware running amok and hacking of personal files at insane levels, now is not the time to get scared and panic. Now is the time to take steps to protect your data on your PC, external drives, and even in an actual hardware safe.

Fortunately, there are numerous data protection hardware and software solutions for wherever you store your data and backups. Some are free, some are inexpensive, and some are pricey, but all make it easy to keep your files safe from thieving eyes  Here’s a mixed bag of hardware products and software tools which I can recommend after a few weeks of hands-on testing.

Datalocker’s Unique USB Flash Drive Comes Armed with Keypad and Display

Security experts always advise us to copy or move sensitive data to external drives or the cloud. But even when you are not making a backup, saving confidential files to an external drive, be it a portable hard drive or a USB flash drive, is essential.

But flash drives without some level of encryption are still as vulnerable to intrusion as logging on to a public Wi-Fi network at a coffee shop. Enter Datalocker’s Sentry K300–an encrypted micro SSD drive with an onboard keypad. Available in a range of capacities from 8GB to 256GB, these are the first USB flash drives with not only a 12 button keypad but an actual OLED display screen, all packed into a finger-size unit.

The display screen is the pedigree on the Sentry 300 since it lets us actually verify what we enter on the keypad. The display supports true alpha-numeric password-based authentication and a full-featured onboard menu system. Any file copied to the drive automatically is treated to 256-bit AES encryption. With the previous keypad-equipped USB drives, I was working blind without a display screen.

I thought I could cheat and just leave the drive’s default, first-time password (1234567) but was defeated by the system which requires that password to be changed after the third use. A self-destruct mode kicks in after 20 incorrect password attempts. This restores the drive to its initial factory setting. After 60 seconds of inactivity, the unit goes to sleep to save its built-in battery power.

With its high level of security and ease of use, the Sentry K300 can be recommended as a great data safe, lessening the need to back up to the cloud. But because it employs state-of-the-art, miniaturized technology this first generation does not come cheap. The 8GB drive costs around $125, add $25 more for a 16GB unit.  That gives new meaning to the phrase ‘there is safety in numbers.”

Forget Combination Padlocks with the First Fingerprint Lock

And where do you safely store your important papers – you know, financial records, wills and trusts, deeds, and even digital copies stored on CDs or DVDs? I use a heavy lockbox stored in my basement.

I hadn’t opened my Master padlock for my paper data storage safe in ages so naturally, I completely forgot the three digit combination. My choices for getting into the safe were to physically break the lock or use any of the solutions posted on the Internet.

So after cutting off the lock with an oversized cable cutter, I decided to never use a combination lock again. I could comfortably do that with the arrival of Tapplock, which bills itself as ‘the world’s first smart fingerprint lock.’ Once set up Tapplock works with or without a smartphone app and after a quick initial fingerprint training and a battery charge, all I needed was my finger to open the lock.

The Tapplock Stores up to 500 fingerprints for multiple users, each set up with the smartphone app. To be safe I registered two fingers on each hand (in case I forgot which finger I initially used). Forged with a zinc alloy metal body and 7mm reinforced stainless steel shackle, strengthened by double-layered lock design with anti-shim and anti-pry technologies, this padlock is built to last and ward off anyone with attempts to break in.

The iPhone app I tested allowed me to set permanent access or limited access with flexible dates and times or anyone else that needed to get access to the stored valuables. The lock can also be opened with the smartphone app or even a Morse code like pattern.

I was concerned that the battery life could possibly peter out, preventing unlocking but Tapplock promises about a year’s worth of battery life or some 3,500 unlocks per charge.

So now I can say goodbye to Master Lock by giving it the finger and say hello to Tapplock with the touch of my finger. But there is one catch. A Master Lock combination lock costs about six bucks while the Tapplock will set you back $99. No one said smart technology comes cheap but the way I see it, cheap is expensive in the long run.

Free Encryption Software Locks Out PC Hackers

In its most basic form, encryption is the process of encoding data, making it unintelligible and scrambled. In a lot of cases, encrypted data is also paired with an encryption key, sometimes just a password and often setup with a USB flash drive dongle. And only those that possess the key will be able to open it.

Encrypting software basically scrambles the digital bits to make it unintelligible. It comes with a master key that only those who have it can reassemble the data to its original state. Think of encryption as a Bingo cage. Instead of balls rolling in the cage, it is your data’s bits. Rolling the cage scrambles those bits. Rolling it yet again scrambles it even more – that’s 256-bit encryption.

There is a virtual cornucopia of free and paid encryption apps to choose from. Judging from user posts on the Internet, a few of these apps rise to the top for their simplicity and resourcefulness. But with any of them, including the three below, writing down the password key is essential. Lose it and not only will hackers be locked out of your files, so will you.

VeraCrypt is surprisingly easy to install and use, the free VeraCrypt creates encrypted passwords for either your data or disk partitions. It makes use of various industrial strength encryption codes (AES, TwoFish) and integrates into Windows so by just right-clicking a file or folder, you can encrypt and decrypt it.

AxCrypt also integrates seamlessly into Windows shell allowing us to right-click a file to encrypt it. Users can select an entire folder, a bunch of files, or a single file to lock up. The free version works with 128-bit AES encryption and kicks if you don’t continue after 30 days with the paid, more robust premium version which is what downloads to start. Files can be decrypted on demand or locked for specific times periods. The program works both in Windows and if desired with lots of additional command prompt options.

BitLocker is part of the Windows 10 OS but only for the Pro and Enterprise versions. (Windows Home users will need to resort to the third party encryption apps noted above or others available.) BitLocker is accessed via the Control Panel or simply typing “Bitlocker” in the Start search bar. It works two ways: First as a lock on an entire drive, not selected files. Second and most useful as a way to secure data on USB flash drives with BitLocker to Go. Once launched, it asks you to create your password key or PIN. It will also create a large recovery key that can either be saved to your Microsoft account, printed, or to another drive or disk. If you encrypt your PC, you can create a USB flash drive key that when inserted will “open” your files.

Accessibility in the Windows 10 October 2018 Update

We have been focused on the misfires during the initial release of the latest feature update for Windows 10.

As that situation seems to be slowly resolving itself through patches and other public fixes, I wanted to talk about accessibility in this October 1018 Update.

I had an opportunity during Microsoft Ignite a few weeks ago to sit down with Microsoft’s Jiaxin Zheng, a product marketing manager for accessibility in Windows.

We discussed the new accessibility features that were going to be part of the October 2018 Update and I gained an understanding about inclusive design that I had never comprehended before. Accessibility is one of those areas of Windows 10 that has come a long way since the initial release of Windows 10 back in July 2015. Every one of the six feature updates released for the operating system have built upon and improved accessibility features. While the advancements may look incremental in updates that come out every six months, the growth of this feature set over the last three years has been tremendous.

Zheng shared with me three key areas of improvement in this feature update release.

Ease of Access

The Magnifier in Windows 10 is a handy tool to help increase the size of content on your screen as needed and you can move around in that zoomed mode. However, in the past, the default behavior was that you had to drag your mouse all the way to the edges of the Magnifier to move around the screen. In the October 2018 Update, a new option has been added that allows you to keep the mouse cursor in the center of the zoomed screen as you move around. This is much more efficient for navigating the screen using Magnifier.

The ability to make text bigger independent of screen resolution is another addition to Ease of Access in the October 2018 Update. This global slider adjusts the size of all text in the operating system and using this in conjunction with the make everything bigger option just below it allows a user to find a spot that allows them to see things better without a lot of panning around to see all the screen content.

Narrator

According to Zheng, it can take screen reader users 6 to 12 months to become proficient in using a screen reader like Narrator. The team wanted to help reduce that learning curve and so with the October 2018 Update they are providing Narrator QuickStart. In the October 2018 Update, when a user starts up Narrator (CTRL + WIN + ENTER) and the guide will start up by default the first time that keyboard shortcut is used.

In order to create the Narrator QuickStart, the team looked at what is needed to get up and running using this screen reader and they condensed that down into 13 digestible pages. This learning environment is a safe place for users to practice and experiment without being concerned about causing an issue with live sites, etc. This quick start helps users gain familiarity with these key features, so they can gain proficiency and confidence that Narrator will allow them to use their technology as expected.

Note: The Narrator QuickStart can also be accessed at Windows Settings > Ease of Access > Narrator > Learn Narrator basics with QuickStart.

Learning Tools in Microsoft Edge

We have already seen many of the reading view improvements make their way into Microsoft’s web browser over the last couple of feature updates. In the October 2018 Update, you can adjust the page theme color with Irlen colors that assist you in deciding text on the screen. Line focus is a new option for web pages using a reading view that helps with concentration while reading.

Enhancements have also been made to personalize grammar tools to customize certain parts of speech with colors and/or labels to clarify understanding plus the dictionary word lookup capability now works offline in Edge.

As you can see, the set of improvements in the October 2018 Update are not earth-shattering themselves, but they do build upon work in past feature updates to truly make these features for accessibility even more robust and useful.

Finally, I want to share some insight I gained from Zheng during our interview at Microsoft Ignite. We were talking about inclusive design and she shared this quote/thought with me:

“The whole ethos behind inclusive design is to solve for one, extend to many.”

She explained that this type of design not only makes using a computer possible for people with permanent disabilities. However, it also allows someone with a temporary disability to also continue using that same computer. For instance, someone with a broken arm, hand or in a situation that prevents normal use of the computer, can benefit from many of the accessibility features that were originally designed for persons with disabilities.

One example I shared with Zheng was something I had seen in several sessions at Microsoft Ignite – especially those with large audiences in big rooms – the use of Magnifier. In situations where the presenter wanted to highlight a specific portion of the demo on the projected screen, they were opening Magnifier and then focusing on that area, so it was easier for attendees to view.

While not the intended use of Magnifier, it is a situational use that benefits all parties at that time. Often the team is not even aware that their tools are being used for such purposes. However, when you solve a usage scenario for one – it will often extend to many just like Jiaxin explained above.

It seems the team has no issue with these types of uses because ultimately their goal is to make Windows 10 easier for all users in whatever their usage scenario might be.