As discussed above, one of the best ways to safeguard against confidentiality loss is through the use of encryption. Many commercial encryption products are available today, but this article will focus on Cryptainer LE from Cypherix Software because it is free (as in beer) for both personal AND commercial use, and the product is ideally suited for USB memory sticks.

How Cryptainer LE Works

Cryptainer LE functions as a driver for Win32 systems that allows the operating system to view a single encrypted file as a virtual disk. Essentially, once the virtual disk is mounted it is available to Windows just as if it were any other type of disk. A small program is required to mount the encrypted disk and that program can be included on the USB memory stick as well. The portable version does not require installation and can reside on the memory stick as well, making Cryptainer LE a self-contained encryption system.

Unlike some other vendors who might implement a weak or obsolete encryption algorithm such as single-DES in their free or trial products, Cypherix uses strong encryption via the Blowfish algorithm. Blowfish is a highly efficient algorithm developed by cryptography expert Bruce Schnier and trusted by even the most paranoid of the security conscious community, the OpenBSD project. Provided that the password selected as the key is securely chosen, data encrypted by Cryptainer LE is about as secure as it gets, figuratively speaking.

Using Cryptainer LE to Create an Encrypted Disk

First, download Cryptainer LE from here. Then, install using the defaults. Once the installation is complete and the program is launched, it will prompt to create the first encrypted disk.




From the display, replace the path for the Cryptainer volume with the path of the USB memory stick. The Cryptainer volume size can also be increased from 10 MB to 25 MB.



A progress bar will be displayed while the Cryptainer volume is created.



As a security feature, Cryptainer will not automatically remember any encrypted volumes other than the primary volume. This prevents others who access the Cryptainer program from determining where the potential disks may reside. A message box will display a reminder of this.



Once the drive is created, a prompt is displayed indicating that the new volume is available within explorer until it is unloaded.