Not sure is this is the best place to post this question, but wondering what is the best way to encrypt a usb drive?
Want to be able to carry an encrypted flash drive with me but also be able to unlock it, if possible, on various OSes. Preferably with some kind of portable software. Something similar to the method that comes with the Kingston Data Traveler USB drives.
Edit: Seems like Veracrypt and Cryptomator are the best options to check out. Thank everyone!
The best option is going to be a USB drive that has an external key entry feature. Kingston IronKey has these and its as simple as enter a key and plug in. I use them at work and it works on all the major OSes. They’re not cheap though so if you want or are looking for a free solution then something like VeraCrypt portable and an encrypted container will be your next best option.
Because historically when FDE is done in hardware there’s been massive compromises. FDE is better done in software. Its more secure.
But, sure, there’s no shortage of companies trying to sell you shitty hardware thats “100% secure” (which is a major red flag)
Probably far from the best option; but you could use 7zip? Put a 7zip portable exe & linux binary on the usb, put the regular contents in an encrypted .zip file, anyone with the password can decrypt. I assume there are much more secure options though.
7zip encryption is solid, but the problem with this is that you don’t Mount 7zip, so you have to extract it. Once you extract encrypted files into a drive thats not encrypted, they may as well never have been encrypted in the first place.
Its better to use a tool that creates an encrypted filesystem that you can mount and read-write directly without copying the files onto another disk
Encrypted ZIPs are very trivial to break. I can break it with a simple python script.
For instance, Microsoft does that for all encrypted ZIPs
ZIP isn’t a good way to encrypt, but what Microsoft is doing is simply reading the email, and decrypting zips with the password found in the email body.
All encryptions schemes can be trivially broken if you have the key. It’s not even breaking, it’s just normal decryption.
No, zip encryption is very weak. Thus is because million of combinations can be tried very quickly
Get a Kingston IronKey. I have personally used the D500S. This is an off the shelf solution so it is a bit pricy. But it does look like they have lower versions in the same product line. Maybe you will find something that fits your budget.
Cryptomator might be a good option. They have clients for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It’s designed around encrypting your cloud storage but nothing should stop you from using it on a USB drive.
Yup Veracrypt is great even has a portable version that can be kept on the drive (might still need admin privileges though) so you won’t have to install it on the system iirc . Would also go with cryptomator if you plan on using it with mobile systems but it has a one time payment for mobile.
