Haddii aad xogta xasaasiga ah ku sidato USB Drive- ka, waa inaad ka fikirtaa inaad isticmaasho sireed si aad u ilaaliso xogta haddii ay dhacdo in ay lunto ama xado. Waxaan mar hore ka hadlay sida loo xafido dariiqaaga adag^{(encrypt your hard drive)} adoo isticmaalaya BitLocker for Windows ama FileVault for Mac , labadaba nidaamka hawlgalka ee ku dhex dhisan.

Wadayaasha USB-ga^(USB) , waxaa jira dhowr siyaabood oo aad ku isticmaali karto sirta darawallada: adigoo isticmaalaya BitLocker on Windows , ka iibsashada qalab sir ah oo USB ah oo dhinac saddexaad ah ama isticmaalka software sirta qolo saddexaad.

Maqaalkan, waxaan uga hadlayaa dhammaan saddexda hab iyo sida aad u hirgelin karto. Ka hor inta aynaan u gelin faahfaahinta, waa in la ogaadaa in aysan jirin xal sireed oo qumman oo dammaanad ah. Nasiib darro, dhammaan xalalka hoos ku xusan waxay galeen arrimo sannadihii la soo dhaafay.

Godad amniga iyo dayacanka ayaa laga helay BitLocker , software sir ah oo dhinac saddexaad ah iyo qalab badan oo qarsoon USB drives waa la jabsan karaa. Haddaba ma jiraan wax macno ah oo loo isticmaalo sirta? Haa, xaqiiqdii. Jabsiga iyo ka faa'iidaysiga dayacanka waa mid aad u adag oo u baahan xirfad farsamo oo badan.

Marka labaad, amniga had iyo jeer waa la wanaajiyaa waxaana cusbooneysiin lagu sameeyaa software, firmware, iwm si xogta loo ilaaliyo. Habka kasta oo aad doorato, hubso inaad mar walba wax walba cusbooneysiiso.

Habka 1 - BitLocker on Windows

BitLocker wuxuu sir doona USB- gaaga ka dibna wuxuu u baahan doonaa furaha sirta ah in la geliyo mar kasta oo lagu xiro PC. Si aad u bilowdo isticmaalka BitLocker , horay u soco oo ku xidh USB-^(USB) gaaga kombayutarkaaga. Midig ku dhufo darawalka oo guji Daar BitLocker^{( Turn on BitLocker)} .

Marka xigta, waxaad heli doontaa ikhtiyaarka aad ku dooranayso sida aad rabto inaad u furto darawalka. Waxaad dooran kartaa inaad isticmaasho furaha sirta ah, isticmaal kaarka smart ama labadaba isticmaal. Inta badan isticmaalayaasha gaarka ah, ikhtiyaarka sirta ah ayaa noqon doona doorashada ugu fiican.

Marka xigta, waxaad u baahan doontaa inaad doorato sida aad rabto inaad u kaydiso furaha soo kabashada haddii erayga sirta ah la iloobo.

Waxaad ku kaydin kartaa Koontadaada Microsoft^{(Microsoft Account)} , ku kaydi faylka ama daabac furaha soo kabashada. Haddii aad ku kaydsato Koontadaada Microsoft^{(Microsoft Account)} , waxa aad heli doontaa wakhti aad u fudud in aad xogtaada dib u soo kabsato hadhow maadaama lagu kaydin doono server-yada Microsoft . Si kastaba ha ahaatee, dhinaca hoose ayaa ah in haddii sharci fulinta ay waligeed rabto xogtaada, Microsoft waa inay kor u qaaddaa furahaaga soo kabashada haddii ay bixiso waaran.

Haddii aad ku kaydiso fayl, hubi in faylka uu ku kaydsan yahay meel aamin ah. Haddii qof si fudud u heli karo furaha soo kabashada, markaas waxay heli karaan dhammaan xogtaada. Waxaad ku kaydin kartaa fayl ama daabac furaha ka dibna ku kaydi sanduuqa qufulka bangiga ama shay aad u ammaan badan.

Marka xigta, waxaad u baahan tahay inaad doorato inta ka mid ah wadista aad rabto inaad sirayso. Haddii ay cusub tahay, kaliya sir meesha la isticmaalay oo waxay siraysaa xogta cusub marka aad ku darto. Haddii ay jiraan wax hore u saarnaa, ka dibna kaliya sir dhammaan darawalka.

Iyadoo ku xidhan nooca Windows ee aad isticmaalayso, waxa laga yaabaa inaadan arkin shaashaddan. On Windows 10 , waxaa lagu weydiin doonaa inaad kala doorato qaabka cusub ee sirta ah ama qaabka ku haboon. Windows 10 waxa uu leeyahay sir ka fiican oo ka xoog badan, kaas oo aan la socon doonin noocyadii hore ee Windows . Haddii aad rabto ammaan dheeraad ah, raac qaabka cusub, laakiin haddii aad u baahan tahay inaad ku xidho darawalka noocyadii hore ee Windows , raac habka ku habboon.

Taas ka dib, waxay bilaabi doontaa inay sirayso darawalka. Waqtigu wuxuu ku xirnaan doonaa inta uu le'eg yahay darawalkaagu iyo inta xogta loo baahan yahay in la sireeyo.

Hadda haddii aad tagto mashiinka kale ee Windows 10 oo aad ku xidho darawalka, waxaad arki doontaa farriin yar oo ka muuqata aagga ogeysiinta. Noocyadii hore ee Windows , kaliya aad Explorer .

Waxa kale oo aad arki doontaa sumadda wadista oo quful ku dul taal marka aad aragto darawallada Explorer .

Ugu dambeyntii, marka aad laba-gujiso darawalka si aad u gasho, waxaa laguu sheegi doonaa inaad geliso erayga sirta ah. Haddii aad gujiso Ikhtiyaar badan^{(More Options)} , waxaad sidoo kale arki doontaa ikhtiyaarka isticmaalka furaha soo kabashada.

Haddii aad rabto inaad damiso BitLocker meel dambe, kaliya midig-guji darawalka oo dooro Maamul BitLocker^{(Manage BitLocker)} . Markaas dhagsii Demi BitLocker^{( Turn off BitLocker)} liiska xiriiriyayaasha.

Waxa kale oo aad bedeli kartaa erayga sirta ah, kaydinta furaha soo kabashada mar kale, ku dar xaqiijinta kaadhka smart oo dami ama dami auto quful. Guud ahaan, waa hab fudud oo ammaan ah oo lagu sireeyo flash-ka oo aan u baahnayn wax qalab dhinac saddexaad ah.

Habka 2 - VeraCrypt

Waxaa jira wax badan oo ka mid ah software-ka sirta xogta qolo saddexaad oo sheeganaya inay badbaado yihiin oo ammaan yihiin, laakiin xisaab hubin lama samayn si loo hubiyo waxa loogu yeero tayada. Marka ay timaado sirta, waxaad u baahan tahay inaad hubiso in koodka ay baarayaan kooxo xirfadlayaal amni ah.

Barnaamijka kaliya ee aan ku talin lahaa wakhtigan waa VeraCrypt , kaas oo ku salaysan TrueCrypt hore oo caan ah . Weli waad soo dejisan kartaa TrueCrypt 7.1a , kaas oo ah nooca kaliya ee lagu talinayo in la soo dejiyo, laakiin hadda laguma sii shaqaynayo. Xeerkii waa la baadhay^{(code has been audited)} , waxaana mahad leh oo aan la helin wax khatar ah oo xagga amniga ah.

Si kastaba ha ahaatee, waxay leedahay arrimo qaar, sidaas darteed waa inaan run ahaantii la isticmaalin mar dambe. VeraCrypt asal ahaan waxay qaadatay TrueCrypt waxayna hagaajisay inta badan arimaha laga helay hanti dhawrka. Si aad u bilowdo, soo deji VeraCrypt^(VeraCrypt) ka dibna ku rakib nidaamkaaga.

Marka aad socodsiiso barnaamijka, waxaad heli doontaa daaqad leh xarfo badan oo waditaan ah iyo dhowr badhammo. Waxaan rabnaa inaan ku bilowno abuurista mug cusub, markaa dhagsii badhanka mugga abuurista^{(Create Volume)} .

Saaxir abuurista mugga ayaa soo bixi doona oo waxaad yeelan doontaa dhowr ikhtiyaar. Waxaad dooran kartaa inaad abuurto weel faylal ah oo sir ah^{(Create an encrypted file container)} ama waxaad dooran kartaa inaad Encrypt a non-system partition/drive . Doorashada ugu horeysa waxay abuuri doontaa saxan qarsoon oo lagu kaydiyo hal fayl. Doorashada labaad waxay sir doonan doontaa dhammaan USB- gaaga flash drive. Xulashada koowaad, waxaad ku kaydsan kartaa xoogaa xog ah oo mugga sir ah inta ka hartayna waxa ku jiri kara xog aan la sirmin.

Maadaama aan kaliya ku kaydiyo macluumaadka xasaasiga ah hal USB drive, had iyo jeer waxaan raacaa sirta dhammaan xulashada wadista.

Shaashada xigta, waa inaad kala doorataa abuurista mugga S tandard VeraCrypt^{(tandard VeraCrypt volume)} ama mugga VeraCrypt qarsoon^{(Hidden VeraCrypt volume)} . Hubi inaad gujiso isku xirka si aad si faahfaahsan u fahanto farqiga u dhexeeya. Asal ahaan, haddii aad rabto wax aad u ammaan badan, raac mugga qarsoon sababtoo ah waxay abuurtaa mugga labaad ee sir ah gudaha mugga ugu horreeya ee qarsoodiga ah. Waa inaad ku kaydisaa xogta xasaasiga ah ee dhabta ah mugga labaad ee la sir ah iyo qaar ka mid ah xogta been abuurka ah ee mugga ugu horreeya ee qarsoodiga ah.

Sidan oo kale, haddii qof kugu qasbo inaad ka baxdo eraygaaga sirta ah, waxay arki doonaan oo keliya waxa ku jira mugga koowaad, ma arki doonaan kan labaad. Ma jirto wax adag oo dheeraad ah marka la gelayo mugga qarsoon, kaliya waa inaad gelisaa furaha sirta ah marka aad ku dhejiso darawalka, markaa waxaan soo jeedin lahaa inaad la socoto mugga qarsoon si aad u hesho ammaan dheeraad ah.

Haddii aad doorato ikhtiyaarka mugga dahsoon, hubi inaad doorato qaabka caadiga ah^{(Normal mode)} shaashadda soo socota si VeraCrypt kuugu^(VeraCrypt) abuurto mugga caadiga ah iyo mugga qarsoon adiga. Marka xigta, waa inaad doorataa goobta mugga.

Guji badhanka Xulashada Aaladda^{(Select Device)} ka dibna raadi qalabkaaga laga saari karo. Ogsoonow inaad dooran karto qayb ama dhammaan qalabka. Waxaa laga yaabaa inaad arrimaha qaarkood ku dhex dhacdo halkan sababtoo ah iskudayga inaad doorato Disk 1 ee la saari karo^{(Removable Disk 1)} ayaa i siisay fariin qalad ah oo sheegaysa in mugga sir ah lagu abuuri karo oo keliya qalabka aan ku jirin qaybo.

Maaddaama ushayda USB-ga^(USB) ay lahayd hal qayb oo keliya, waxaan ku dhameeyay kaliya doorashada /Device/Harddisk/Partition1 E: si fiican ayay u shaqeysay. Haddii aad dooratid inaad abuurto mugga qarsoon, shaashadda xigta waxay dejin doontaa fursadaha mugga dibadda.

Halkan waa inaad doorataa algorithm-ka sireed iyo algorithmamka xashiishka. Haddii aadan fikrad ka haysan micnaha shay, kaliya ku dhaaf meesha caadiga ah oo guji Next . Shaashadda xigta waxay dejin doontaa cabbirka mugga dibadda, kaas oo la mid noqon doona qaybta qaybta. Halkaa marka ay marayso, waa inaad gelisaa erayga sirta ah ee mugga dibadda.

Ogsoonow in furaha sirta ah ee mugga dibadda iyo mugga qarsoon waa inay aad u kala duwanaadaan, markaa ka fikir qaar sirta ah oo wanaagsan, dheer oo xooggan. Shaashadda xigta, waa inaad doorataa inaad rabto inaad taageerto faylal waaweyn iyo haddii kale. Waxay ku talinayaan maya, markaa dooro kaliya haa haddii aad runtii u baahan tahay inaad ku kaydiso faylalka ka weyn 4GB ee wadista.

Marka xigta, waa inaad qaabaysaa mugga dibadda waxaanan ku talin lahaa inaadan bedelin mid ka mid ah goobaha halkan. Nidaamka faylka FAT ayaa u fiican VeraCrypt . Riix ^(Click)badhanka qaabka^(Format) oo waxay tirtiri doontaa wax kasta oo ku yaala wadista ka dibna waxay bilaabi doontaa habka abuurka ee mugga dibadda.

Tani waxay qaadan doontaa wakhti sababtoo ah qaabkani wuxuu si dhab ah u qoraa xogta aan tooska ahayn ee darawalka oo dhan taas oo ka soo horjeeda qaabka degdega ah ee sida caadiga ah ka dhaca Windows . Marka^(Once) la dhammeeyo, waxaa lagu weydiin doonaa inaad horay u sii socoto oo aad nuqul ka sameyso xogta mugga dibadda. Tani waxay u malaynaysaa inay tahay xogtaada xasaasiga ah ee been abuurka ah.

Ka dib markaad nuqul ka sameyso xogta, waxaad hadda bilaabi doontaa habka mugga qarsoon. Halkan waa inaad mar kale doorataa nooca sirta ah, taas oo aan ka tagi lahaa keligaa ilaa aad ogtahay waxa macnaheedu yahay. Guji Next^{(Click Next)} oo hadda waxaad awood u leedahay inaad doorato cabbirka mugga qarsoon. Haddii aad hubto inaadan wax kale ku darin mugga dibadda, waxa kaliya oo aad kordhin kartaa mugga qarsoon.

Si kastaba ha ahaatee, waxaad ka dhigi kartaa cabbirka mugga qarsoon sidoo kale haddii aad rabto. Taasi waxay ku siin doontaa qol badan oo mugga dibadda ah.

Marka xigta, waa inaad siisaa muggaaga qarsoon furaha sirta ah ka dibna riix Format shaashadda xigta si aad u abuurto mugga qarsoon. Ugu dambeyntii, waxaad heli doontaa fariin kuu sheegaysa sida loo galo mugga qarsoon.

Ogsoonow in dariiqa kaliya ee lagu geli karo wadista hadda ay tahay adiga oo isticmaalaya VeraCrypt . Haddii aad isku daydo inaad gujiso xarafka wadista ee Windows , waxaad heli doontaa kaliya fariin qalad ah oo leh darawalka lama aqoonsan karo oo u baahan yahay in la qaabeeyo. Ha^(Don) sameynin ilaa aad rabto inaad lumiso dhammaan xogtaada qarsoon!

Bedelkeeda, fur VeraCrypt oo marka hore ka dooro warqad wadista liiska sare. Kadib guji Xulo Aaladda^{( Select Device )} oo dooro qaybta diskka laga saari karo liiska. Ugu dambeyntii, dhagsii badhanka Mount Halkan waxaa lagu weydiin doonaa inaad geliso erayga sirta ah. Haddii aad geliso erayga sirta ah ee mugga dibadda, muggaas waxa lagu dhejin doonaa xarafka darawalnimada cusub. Haddii aad gasho lambarka sirta ah ee mugga qarsoon, markaa muggaas ayaa la rari doonaa.

Aad u fiican sax!? Hadda waxaad haysataa software sir ah oo sir ah USB flash Drive kaas oo qofna u suurtoobin inuu galo.

Habka 3 ^{(Method 3)} – Hardware sir USB Flash^{(– Hardware Encrypted USB Flash)} Drives

Doorashadaada saddexaad waa inaad soo iibsato qalab sir ah oo USB ah. Weligaa ha^(Never) iibsan software sir ah flash drive sababtoo ah waxay u badan tahay inay isticmaalayso qaar ka mid ah algorithm-ka sir lahaanshaha gaarka ah ee ay abuurtay shirkadu waxayna leedahay fursad aad u sareysa oo lagu dhaco.

In kasta oo habka 1 iyo 2 ay yihiin kuwo aad u fiican, haddana weli waa xalal sir ah oo software ah, kuwaas oo aan u fiicnayn sida xal ku salaysan qalab. Qarsoodidda^(Hardware) qalabku waxa ay u ogolaataa in si degdeg ah loo helo xogta ku jirta dariiqa,waxa ay ka hortagtaa weeraradii hore ee bootinta waxana ay ku kaydisaa furayaasha sirta ah ee chip-ka,iyada oo meesha ka saaraysa baahida furayaasha soo kabashada dibada lagu kaydiyo.

Marka aad iibsato qalab sir ah oo hardware ah, iska hubi in uu isticmaalayo AES-256 bit ama uu waafaqsan yahay FIPS. Taladayda ugu weyn ee ku saabsan shirkadaha la aamini karo waa IronKey .

Waxay ku jireen ganacsiga muddo aad u dheer waxayna haystaan ​​qaar ka mid ah alaabooyinka ammaankooda aad u sarreeya ee macaamiisha ilaa ganacsiyada. Haddii aad runtii u baahan tahay qaar ka mid ah flash drives aamin ah oo aadan rabin inaad adigu sameyso, markaa tani waa doorashada ugu fiican. Ma ahan mid raqiis ah, laakiin ugu yaraan waxaad dareemi kartaa wanaag in xogtaada ay si ammaan ah u kaydsan tahay.

Waxaad arki doontaa tiro dhan oo ah xulashooyin raqiis ah oo ku yaal boggaga sida Amazon , laakiin haddii aad akhrido dib u eegista, waxaad had iyo jeer heli doontaa dad "naxay" markii ay wax dhaceen oo ay awoodeen inay galaan xogta iyaga oo aan ku qorin erayga sirta ah ama wax la mid ah.

Waxaan rajeyneynaa, maqaalkan qoto-dheer wuxuu ku siinayaa fikrad wanaagsan sida aad u qarin karto xogta ku jirta flash-ka oo aad si ammaan ah u geli karto. Haddii aad wax su'aalo ah qabtid, xor u noqo inaad faallo ka bixiso. Ku raaxayso!

How to Securely Encrypt a USB Flash Drive

If you carry sensitive information around on a USΒ drive, you should conѕider using encryption to secure the data in case of loss or theft. I’νe already tаlked about how to encrypt your hard drive using BitLocker for Windows or FileVault for Mac, both built-in operating system features.

For USB drives, there are a couple of ways you can go about using encryption on the drives: using BitLocker on Windows, buying a hardware encrypted USB drive from a third-party or using third-party encryption software.

In this article, I’m going to talk about all three methods and how you can implement them. Before we get into the details, it should be noted that no encryption solution is perfect and guaranteed. Unfortunately, all the solutions mentioned below have run into issues over the years.

Security holes and vulnerabilities have been found in BitLocker, third-party encryption software and a lot of hardware encrypted USB drives can be hacked. So is there any point to using encryption? Yes, definitely. Hacking and exploiting vulnerabilities is extremely hard and requires a lot of technical skill.

Secondly, security is always being improved and updates are made to software, firmware, etc to keep data secure. Whatever method you choose, make sure to always keep everything updated.

Method 1 – BitLocker on Windows

BitLocker will encrypt your USB drive and then require a password to be entered whenever it is connected to a PC. To get started using BitLocker, go ahead and connect your USB drive to your computer. Right-click on the drive and click on Turn on BitLocker.

Next, you’ll have the option to pick how you want to unlock the drive. You can choose to use a password, use a smart card or use both. For most personal users, the password option will be the best choice.

Next, you’ll need to choose how you want to save the recovery key in case the password is forgotten.

You can save it to your Microsoft Account, save to a file or print the recovery key. If you save it to your Microsoft Account, you’ll have a much easier time recovering your data later on since it’ll be stored on Microsoft servers. However, the downside is that if law enforcement ever wants your data, Microsoft will have to pony up your recovery key if served a warrant.

If you save it to a file, make sure that file is stored somewhere secure. If someone can easily find the recovery key, then they can access all of your data. You can save to a file or print the key and then store that in a bank lockbox or something very secure.

Next, you need to choose how much of the drive you want to encrypt. If it’s brand new, just encrypt the used space and it’ll encrypt the new data when you add it. If there is already something on it, then just encrypt the whole drive.

Depending on which version of Windows you are using, you may not see this screen. On Windows 10, you’ll be asked to choose between the new encryption mode or the compatible mode. Windows 10 has better and stronger encryption, which will not be compatible with earlier versions of Windows. If you want more security, go with the new mode, but if you need to connect the drive to older versions of Windows, go with compatible mode.

After this, it will begin to encrypt the drive. The time will depend on how big your drive is and how much data needs to be encrypted.

Now if you go to another Windows 10 machine and plug in the drive, you’ll see a little message appear in the notification area. In earlier versions of Windows, just go to Explorer.

You’ll also see the drive icon has a lock on it when you view the drives in Explorer.

Finally, when you double-click on the drive to access it, you will be prompted to enter the password. If you click More Options, you’ll also see the option for using the recovery key.

If you want to turn off BitLocker at a later point, just right-click on the drive and choose Manage BitLocker. Then click on Turn off BitLocker in the list of links.

You can also change the password, backup the recovery key again, add smart card verification and turn auto-lock on or off. Overall, it’s a simple and secure way to encrypt a flash drive that doesn’t require any third-party tools.

Method 2 – VeraCrypt

There is a lot of third-party data encryption software out there that claim they are safe and secure, but no audit has been done to ensure this so-called quality. When it comes to encryption, you need to be sure the code is being audited by teams of security professionals.

The only program I would recommend at this time would be VeraCrypt, which is based on the previously popular TrueCrypt. You can still download TrueCrypt 7.1a, which is the only recommend version to download, but it’s no longer being worked on. The code has been audited and thankfully no major security vulnerabilities have been found.

However, it does have some issues and therefore shouldn’t really be used anymore. VeraCrypt basically took TrueCrypt and fixed most of the issues that were found in the audit. To get started, download VeraCrypt and then install it on your system.

When you run the program, you’ll get a window with a bunch of drive letters and a few buttons. We want to start off by creating a new volume, so click on the Create Volume button.

The volume creation wizard will popup and you’ll have a couple of options. You can choose to Create an encrypted file container or you can choose to Encrypt a non-system partition/drive. The first option will create a virtual encrypted disk stored in a single file. The second option will encrypt your entire USB flash drive. With the first option, you can have some data stored in the encrypted volume and the rest of the drive can contain unencrypted data.

Since I only store sensitive information on one USB drive, I always go with encrypting the entire drive option.

On the next screen, you have to choose between creating a Standard VeraCrypt volume or a Hidden VeraCrypt volume. Make sure to click on the link to understand in detail the difference. Basically, if you want something super secure, go with the hidden volume because it creates a second encrypted volume inside the first encrypted volume. You should store the real sensitive data in the second encrypted volume and some fake data in the first encrypted volume.

In this way, if someone forces you to give up your password, they will only see the contents of the first volume, not the second one. There is no extra complexity when accessing the hidden volume, you just have to enter a different password when you mount the drive, so I would suggest going with the hidden volume for extra security.

If you choose the hidden volume option, make sure to pick Normal mode on the next screen so that VeraCrypt creates the normal volume and hidden volume for you. Next, you have to choose the location of the volume.

Click on the Select Device button and then look for your removable device. Note that you can choose a partition or the entire device. You might run into some issues here because trying to select Removable Disk 1 gave me an error message stating that encrypted volumes can only be created on devices that don’t contain partitions.

Since my USB stick only had one partition, I ended up just choosing the /Device/Harddisk/Partition1 E: and it worked fine. If you chose to create a hidden volume, the next screen will set the options for the outer volume.

Here you have to choose the encryption algorithm and the hash algorithm. If you have no idea what anything means, just leave it at the default and click Next. The next screen will set the size of the outer volume, which will be the same size as the partition. At this point, you have to enter an outer volume password.

Note that the passwords for the outer volume and hidden volume have to be very different, so think of some good, long and strong passwords. On the next screen, you have to choose whether you want to support large files or not. They recommend no, so only choose yes if you really need to store files larger than 4GB on the drive.

Next, you have to format the outer volume and I would recommend not changing any of the settings here. The FAT filesystem is better for VeraCrypt. Click the Format button and it will delete everything on the drive and then start the creation process for the outer volume.

This will take some time because this format actually writes random data over the entire drive as opposed to the quick format that normally occurs in Windows. Once complete, you’ll be asked to go ahead and copy data to the outer volume. This is supposed to be your fake sensitive data.

After you copy the data over, you’ll now start the process for the hidden volume. Here you have to choose the type of encryption again, which I would leave alone unless you know what all that means. Click Next and you now have the ability to choose the size of the hidden volume. If you’re sure you’re not going to add anything else to the outer volume, you can just max the hidden volume out.

However, you can make the size of the hidden volume smaller too if you like. That will give you more room in the outer volume.

Next, you have to give your hidden volume a password and then click Format on the next screen to create the hidden volume. Finally, you’ll get a message telling you how to access the hidden volume.

Note that the only way to access the drive now is by using VeraCrypt. If you try to click on the drive letter in Windows, you’ll just get an error message saying the drive cannot be recognized and needs to be formatted. Don’t so that unless you want to lose all your encrypted data!

Instead, open VeraCrypt and first choose a drive letter from the list at the top. Then click on Select Device and choose the removable disk partition from the list.  Lastly, click the Mount button. Here you will be asked to enter the password. If you enter the outer volume password, that volume will be mounted to the new drive letter. If you enter the hidden volume password, then that volume will be loaded.

Pretty cool right!? Now you have a super secure software encrypted USB flash drive that will be impossible for anyone to access.

Method 3 – Hardware Encrypted USB Flash Drives

Your third option is to buy a hardware encrypted USB flash drive. Never buy a software encrypted flash drive because it is probably using some proprietary encryption algorithm created by the company and has a much higher chance of being hacked into.

Even though method 1 and 2 are great, they are still software encryption solutions, which are not as ideal as a hardware based solution. Hardware encryption allows for faster access to the data on the drive, prevents pre-boot attacks and stores the encryption keys on a chip, removing the need for externally stored recovery keys.

When you buy a hardware encrypted device, make sure it is using AES-256 bit or is FIPS-compliant. My main recommendation in terms of trustworthy companies is IronKey.

They’ve been in the business for a very long time and have some really high security products for consumers all the way to enterprises. If you really need some secure flash drives and don’t want to do it yourself, then this is the best choice. It’s not cheap, but at least you can feel good that your data is stored securely.

You’ll see a whole bunch of cheap options on sites like Amazon, but if you read the reviews, you’ll always find people who were “shocked” when something happened and they were able to access the data without typing in their password or something similar.

Hopefully, this in-depth article gives you a good idea of how you can encrypt data on a flash drive and access it securely. If you have any questions, feel free to comment. Enjoy!

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