KEEP YOUR FILES SECURE AND PRIVATE
5 Encrypt a locker of files
Whether it contains personal finances or a list of passwords, there’s nothing suspicious about encrypting a file to avoid disclosing its contents. Indeed, if you plan to email that file, you could argue that encrypting it using a program like VeraCrypt (www.snipca.com/42040) is prudent. It scrambles files or folders using random algorithms, secured by a password.
Launch VeraCrypt, then select a drive letter in the top panel. It doesn’t matter which one you choose because none of the options are used by any media attached to your computer – the letter is just used to mount the encrypted locker you’re about to create. Click ‘Create Volume’, then leave ‘Create an encrypted file container’ selected and click Next twice. When you reach the Volume Location screen, click ‘Select File…’, then navigate to the folder where you want to save your encrypted files. Type a name for your encrypted locker in the ‘File name’ box, then click Save.
Click ‘Next’ twice, then specify how much space you’d like to devote to your locker. The more space you assign it, the more files you can store in it. If you’re only going to encrypt a handful of documents, make your locker just a little larger than their combined size. We’re making a locker for some Word documents, so have only given it 50MB (see screenshot below left).
Click ‘Next’ and provide a password to encrypt and decrypt the locker. Click ‘Next’ again, then start moving your cursor randomly. This is what creates the algorithm that scrambles your file. When the bar at the bottom of the window is full ( 1 in our screenshot below right), click Format. You’ll be returned to the VeraCrypt home screen, with the drive letter you chose earlier still selected. Click ‘Select File…’, then navigate to and open the locker you just created, then click Mount 2 . Enter the password you specified, then click OK.
Your encrypted locker will be unlocked and show up in Windows File Explorer, where it will behave like a regular drive. Drag the files and folders that you want to encrypt into it and, when you’ve finished, return to VeraCrypt and click Dismount. The locker will be removed from File Explorer, and can’t be reopened without mounting it again and providing the password.
6 Hide files inside other files
Steganography is a technique that lets you hide one file inside another – like a document inside an image. The image can still be opened, as usual, but only
those who know there’s another file hidden inside will be able to extract it and read its contents.
The tool you need to do this is called OpenPuff (www.snipca.com/42041 – click ‘Download binary for Windows/Linux’ at the top of the page). Install and launch it, then click Hide on the first screen. Enter three unrelated words in the three boxes top left ( 1 in our screenshot) to create a password, then click Browse 2 and select the file you want to hide. Finally, click Add 3 and choose the image or images you want to hide your file inside. Your image(s) must be larger than the file you want to hide inside it. The red box at the bottom won’t turn green 4 until you’ve chosen a large enough image, or added enough smaller images to accommodate your file.
Finally, click ‘Hide Data!’ and choose the folder where you want to save it. This way, OpenPuff can create a new copy of your image and its hidden contents, so the original won’t be amended. The result can be opened for viewing – as an image – in a regular image viewer.
To extract your hidden file, launch OpenPuff again, but this time click Unhide on the first screen. Enter the same three words you used for your password, then click Add Carriers and select the output image (or images) created when hiding your file.
If you used more than one image, make sure you select them in the same order here. Now click ‘Unhide!’ and specify where you want the extracted file to be saved.
and tick the boxes beside both ‘Synchronization on changes in folder 1’ and ‘Synchronization on changes in folder 2’ boxes to enable real-time monitoring. Any amendments you make to your files will now be immediately reflected in the synchronised folder. Click ‘Next’ twice, followed by Apply.
Finally, click ‘Execute task’ to perform your first synchronisation. This will take longer than subsequent syncs, which only copy across changes. Even so, our initial synchronisation of 633 files completed in less than two minutes. You can now close the Synchredible window and the program will continue running in the background.
8 Back up files as ISOs
ISO files are virtual disks. Creating one when backing up a folder ensures its contents exactly match the source material when re-opened, complete with its original sub-folder structure. You don’t need any special software to read an ISO, but you do need a free program like Folder2ISO to create one.
Click the OneDrive link half way down the page at www.snipca.com/42052 to download Folder2Iso. When it’s arrived, double-click the file to expand it, then launch the ‘Folder2Iso.exe’ file from the /folder2iso/ folder inside your Downloads folder.
Click ‘Select Folder’ and choose the folder you want to back up, then click Select Output and navigate to the location where you want to save the ISO file. Give the ISO a name in the ‘File name’ box, and click Save. Next, click ‘Generate ISO’ (see screenshot) and wait for the process to complete (it took around 20 seconds for the 633 files in our Documents folder), then check that it’s made an accurate copy of your originals by navigating to the ISO file, double-clicking it, and selecting File Explorer when Windows asks how you want to open it. It should mount as a new drive (E: in our case), masquerading as a CD ROM.