Warning and January 2021 update: This blog post was published here in 2013 and it’s now outdated and I’m leaving it here for historical purposes, though I happen to still use two pieces of software and a tablet mentioned below! You use any information in this old blog post at your own risk!
This blog post is all about encryption for small businesses and freelancers. More specifically this blog post provides some insight into different uses for encryption, and whilst this blog post isn’t aimed at Enterprise level businesses, smaller businesses and home users, should find this post insightful. This blog post does not cover how secure encryption is, nor the types of encryption methods available.
Please note: You use the information in this blog post at your own risk!
Passwords
Do you have simply passwords or passwords written down in a book? Well these days you can use a password manager such as KeePass to help you manage complex passwords, whilst the passwords themselves are stored within an encrypted file. Then you just need to remember a ‘master’ password, to access your library of passwords. Simple!
Backups
Many people worry about their online data, but fail to secure their backups! There is no point having a high security setup on your computer, only for your backups to be insecure. However with the help of Cobain (a Windows app), you can automate your backups, including creating encrypted backups.
Whole machine encryption
Many people would think encrypting their computer is going overboard. However tell that to the people who have experienced data theft through direct access to a computer. I knew a chap who had two laptops stolen within a year. TWICE IN A YEAR!! First someone stole his laptop from his home study, and the second time whilst he was at an airport.
You don’t have to encrypt a whole machine, you could just choose to encrypt a partition, perhaps the OS area or create an encrypted virtual drive for important files and folders. You might want to check out the free TrueCrypt software, which provides a great range of encryption options.
Tablet Computers
Whilst above I’ve been referring to desktop and laptop computers, tablet computers can often be encrypted as well. For example encrypting a Nexus 7 tablet is incredibly easy, as it can be done via the Android OS, but it will take considerably longer to boot up.
Conclusion
You could decide to go further, but if you have no encryption in place, it is important you don’t delay. Plus make sure you can easily access your encrypted data, as too many people have forgotten ‘master’ passwords. Though make sure the master passwords are complex!
I hope this blog post has given you much to think about, and shows how easy it is start encrypting your data.