Tag Archives: data
Protect Your Data (Encrypt Your Files)
Medical records, tax documents and other files with personal information are often stored on personal computers. If you don’t encrypt files that include personal information, you risk making yourself an easy target for cybercriminals. Encrypted folders, which are referred to as vaults, can lock down your information, so it’s unavailable to anyone without your password.
Encrypt-Stick is the most advanced portable security application available on the market today. Encrypt-Stick software converts your USB flash drive into a personal vault and the key to access and secure your private files. Encrypt-Stick requires a serial numbered USB flash drive to run. It gives you the ability to create unlimited invisible encrypted vaults on an unlimited number of computers, removable hard drives or networked drives. If a vault is burned to a DVD/CD you can securely access it using the original USB used to create the vault. Encrypt-Stick provides you with the highest level of protection from identity theft, hackers, phishers and will never leave a footprint on the host computer.
With a USB drive in your pocket you can carry around personal notes, in-process documents from work, or even top secret military communications. But a hole in that pocket could quickly become a major security leak. Encrypt Stick 5.0 ($39.99 direct) equips any USB drive with a secure encrypted vault for safe data transport. It can also serve as the key for any number of local vaults on home or work PCs, and it has a secure browser and password manager built in.
Note – Once you’ve activated your software on a particular USB drive you can’t move it to another drive. Before you install Encrypt Stick, you’ll want to select a high- quality USB drive with as much storage capacity as you anticipate you’ll ever need. Conveniently, you can install the Mac and Windows versions of the software on the same USB drive and access your protected files from either platform. Once you’ve downloaded Encrpt Stick (or using an installation CD/DVD) your ready to create an encrypted vault.
Creating An Encrypted Vault
The setup wizard walks you through the steps necessary to install and activate Encrypt Stick on your USB drive. During this process you’ll create a strong master password, something that you’ll remember but that nobody would guess. The password-entry box has a built-in password strength meter to help you make a good choice.
Your home system probably doesn’t have a malicious keylogger running, but if you’re worried you can enter that strong password using Encrypt Stick’s virtual keyboard. For added security against monitoring software the virtual keyboard scrambles the location of the characters.
Encrypt Stick uses your password, along with device-specific information, to generate a unique 512-bit (polymorphic) encryption key. That means your files are protected by two-factor authentication: something you have (the USB key), and something you know (the password). Gaining access to protected data requires both.
The wizard includes a recommended optional step that makes a local backup of the decryption key. That way if you lose the USB drive containing Encrypt Stick, you can still recover encrypted files stored on your computer. Files on the lost drive itself are gone, of course, but at least nobody else will be able to read them.
Vaults for File Protection
On initialization, Encrypt Stick creates an encrypted folder right on the USB drive. When you’ve entered the master password, you can freely move files into and out of this folder or launch and edit the files. Outside of the Encrypt Stick interface nothing is visible except encrypted filenames and encrypted data.
You can also create any number of vaults on any PC or Mac to protect local files on that system. Encrypt Stick acts as a key to open these locked vaults. The product’s main window displays available vaults in its upper portion and offers a view of the unencrypted main file system in its lower portion.
To encrypt one or more files you simply drag them onto a vault. When you copy files into a vault, Encrypt Stick offers to securely erase the originals. The help videos call this “military wipe,” implying a connection with the DoD standard for overwriting files before deletion. Basically, it erases the data and writes over it 7 times for the minimum DoD standard.I It also definitely bypass’ the Recycle Bin, which is sufficient to foil casual recovery of secure files.
For additional security you can set Encrypt Stick to automatically lock after a period of inactivity (10 minutes by default) and require a periodic change of the main password (every 30 days by default). This is near military grade encryption (in a commercial usb casing).
Private Browser
Encrypt Stick includes a built-in private browser. When you’re browsing from a “foreign” computer your favorites, history, cached files, and all other browsing traces remain on the device. Once you unplug the device nothing remains on the host computer.
The private browser doesn’t have every possible feature, but it does support tabbed browsing, and it can handle Flash and other popular content types. I was mildly annoyed to find that Ctrl+Enter in the address bar doesn’t complete an address by adding “www.” and “.com”, but I didn’t find any page that it couldn’t display. I verified that no trace of surfing with the private browser remains behind on a host system.
Encrypt Stick lacks the ability to take private browsing to another level with the option to browse using a fully encrypted secure session. This is what Intel Operators use when they are connected through a compromised network in a shady Internet café (the bad guys won’t be able to sniff out private data from your network packets).
Limited Password Management
Encrypt Stick also includes a password management system linked to its private browser. You can store any number of passwords and group them in a hierarchy of categories, but you’ll do all the work yourselfcopying and pasting URLs from your browser and manually entering username and password data (with an option to use the virtual keyboard for passwords).
If you’re setting up a new online account, you can use Encrypt Stick to generate a strong password. However, there’s no provision to adjust the password generator to match a site’s password policies. Key Safe’s password generator lets you set the length and choose which character types to use. It even includes an option to create passwords like “purrPler0ks” that are easy to remember because you can pronounce them.
Full-powered password managers automatically capture login data as you log in to a site manually using a supported browser. I was surprised to find that Encrypt Stick doesn’t offer this level of automation, given that it has total control over the browser.
Key Safe also lacks most features of full-featured password managers, but it does at least have the ability to automatically launch IE, navigate to a saved page, and fill in the login credentials. With Encrypt Stick you must click a link to open the URL in the private browser, then right-click the username and password fields individually to paste in the saved credentials. For some sites this right-click process didn’t work; for others the “fill in” menu choices didn’t appear.
You can import existing passwords from a .CSV file, but it’s not easy. To make use of a similar feature in Key Safe I simply took a file exported from LastPass and rearranged the data columns to the order expected by the import facility. Key Safe can also import directly from several other data types.
Getting my LastPass data into a form that Encrypt Stick would accept took half an hour of manual editing. I did succeed in the end, but only after requesting a sample of the correct format from ENC Security Systems’ tech support.
Why didn’t I just export a sample and study that to learn the format? The export to .CSV feature doesn’t work. It produces a file, but the file is filled with gibberish. After some experimentation I determined that the “gibberish” is actually an encrypted copy of the password data, not the promised .CSV file. The password management feature could definitely use some work.
I also checked the help system to see if it would explain the import process. Or rather, I tried. There is in fact no help system, just a link to the product’s online FAQ. To get help for anything that is not covered in the FAQ you have to e-mail tech support.
Eradicating The Kinks
Encrypt Stick offers a good implementation of file protection by encryption. It uses two-factor authentication, and it can protect portable files on the device itself as well as local files on any number of other computers. The onboard private browser lets you surf the Web on a foreign PC without any risk of leaving private data behind.
The password management doesn’t seem as polished as the rest of the product. It looks good, but it lacks the automation that would make it actually useful. And its import/export system doesn’t work quite right. If you’re looking for a portable password manager, look elsewhere. Still, if you need encryption-based protection for local files and portable files, with private browsing as a bonus, Encrypt Stick can be quite useful.
Pros
Turns any USB drive into secure portable storage. Can create local encrypted folders with two -factor authentication. Private browser allows surfing on foreign PCs leaving no traces behind. Includes password management. Virtual keyboard for safe password entry. Generates strong passwords. Version 4.2 is freeware.
Cons
Password manager requires manual entry of all data. Limited ability to automatically open Web sites using saved credentials. Password import/export facility not working correctly. Can’t configure password generator to match specific password policies.
In Conclusion
Encrypt Stick 5.0 turns any USB drive into secure portable storage for your important files. It also serves as the key to unlock local encrypted folders. An onboard private browser lets you surf without leaving traces. Its weak point is the password manager, which doesn’t seem quite finished. It’s all good though… I have it on my USB stick
Protect Your Data (Encrypt Your Files)
Medical records, tax documents and other files with personal information are often stored on personal computers. If you don’t encrypt files that include personal information, you risk making yourself an easy target for cybercriminals. Encrypted folders, which are referred to as vaults, can lock down your information, so it’s unavailable to anyone without your password.
Encrypt-Stick is the most advanced portable security application available on the market today. Encrypt-Stick software converts your USB flash drive into a personal vault and the key to access and secure your private files. Encrypt-Stick requires a serial numbered USB flash drive to run. It gives you the ability to create unlimited invisible encrypted vaults on an unlimited number of computers, removable hard drives or networked drives. If a vault is burned to a DVD/CD you can securely access it using the original USB used to create the vault. Encrypt-Stick provides you with the highest level of protection from identity theft, hackers, phishers and will never leave a footprint on the host computer.
With a USB drive in your pocket you can carry around personal notes, in-process documents from work, or even top secret military communications. But a hole in that pocket could quickly become a major security leak. Encrypt Stick 5.0 ($39.99 direct) equips any USB drive with a secure encrypted vault for safe data transport. It can also serve as the key for any number of local vaults on home or work PCs, and it has a secure browser and password manager built in.
Note – Once you’ve activated your software on a particular USB drive you can’t move it to another drive. Before you install Encrypt Stick, you’ll want to select a high- quality USB drive with as much storage capacity as you anticipate you’ll ever need. Conveniently, you can install the Mac and Windows versions of the software on the same USB drive and access your protected files from either platform. Once you’ve downloaded Encrpt Stick (or using an installation CD/DVD) your ready to create an encrypted vault.
Creating An Encrypted Vault
The setup wizard walks you through the steps necessary to install and activate Encrypt Stick on your USB drive. During this process you’ll create a strong master password, something that you’ll remember but that nobody would guess. The password-entry box has a built-in password strength meter to help you make a good choice.
Your home system probably doesn’t have a malicious keylogger running, but if you’re worried you can enter that strong password using Encrypt Stick’s virtual keyboard. For added security against monitoring software the virtual keyboard scrambles the location of the characters.
Encrypt Stick uses your password, along with device-specific information, to generate a unique 512-bit (polymorphic) encryption key. That means your files are protected by two-factor authentication: something you have (the USB key), and something you know (the password). Gaining access to protected data requires both.
The wizard includes a recommended optional step that makes a local backup of the decryption key. That way if you lose the USB drive containing Encrypt Stick, you can still recover encrypted files stored on your computer. Files on the lost drive itself are gone, of course, but at least nobody else will be able to read them.
Vaults for File Protection
On initialization, Encrypt Stick creates an encrypted folder right on the USB drive. When you’ve entered the master password, you can freely move files into and out of this folder or launch and edit the files. Outside of the Encrypt Stick interface nothing is visible except encrypted filenames and encrypted data.
You can also create any number of vaults on any PC or Mac to protect local files on that system. Encrypt Stick acts as a key to open these locked vaults. The product’s main window displays available vaults in its upper portion and offers a view of the unencrypted main file system in its lower portion.
To encrypt one or more files you simply drag them onto a vault. When you copy files into a vault, Encrypt Stick offers to securely erase the originals. The help videos call this “military wipe,” implying a connection with the DoD standard for overwriting files before deletion. Basically, it erases the data and writes over it 7 times for the minimum DoD standard.I It also definitely bypass’ the Recycle Bin, which is sufficient to foil casual recovery of secure files.
For additional security you can set Encrypt Stick to automatically lock after a period of inactivity (10 minutes by default) and require a periodic change of the main password (every 30 days by default). This is near military grade encryption (in a commercial usb casing).
Private Browser
Encrypt Stick includes a built-in private browser. When you’re browsing from a “foreign” computer your favorites, history, cached files, and all other browsing traces remain on the device. Once you unplug the device nothing remains on the host computer.
The private browser doesn’t have every possible feature, but it does support tabbed browsing, and it can handle Flash and other popular content types. I was mildly annoyed to find that Ctrl+Enter in the address bar doesn’t complete an address by adding “www.” and “.com”, but I didn’t find any page that it couldn’t display. I verified that no trace of surfing with the private browser remains behind on a host system.
Encrypt Stick lacks the ability to take private browsing to another level with the option to browse using a fully encrypted secure session. This is what Intel Operators use when they are connected through a compromised network in a shady Internet café (the bad guys won’t be able to sniff out private data from your network packets).
Limited Password Management
Encrypt Stick also includes a password management system linked to its private browser. You can store any number of passwords and group them in a hierarchy of categories, but you’ll do all the work yourselfcopying and pasting URLs from your browser and manually entering username and password data (with an option to use the virtual keyboard for passwords).
If you’re setting up a new online account, you can use Encrypt Stick to generate a strong password. However, there’s no provision to adjust the password generator to match a site’s password policies. Key Safe’s password generator lets you set the length and choose which character types to use. It even includes an option to create passwords like “purrPler0ks” that are easy to remember because you can pronounce them.
Full-powered password managers automatically capture login data as you log in to a site manually using a supported browser. I was surprised to find that Encrypt Stick doesn’t offer this level of automation, given that it has total control over the browser.
Key Safe also lacks most features of full-featured password managers, but it does at least have the ability to automatically launch IE, navigate to a saved page, and fill in the login credentials. With Encrypt Stick you must click a link to open the URL in the private browser, then right-click the username and password fields individually to paste in the saved credentials. For some sites this right-click process didn’t work; for others the “fill in” menu choices didn’t appear.
You can import existing passwords from a .CSV file, but it’s not easy. To make use of a similar feature in Key Safe I simply took a file exported from LastPass and rearranged the data columns to the order expected by the import facility. Key Safe can also import directly from several other data types.
Getting my LastPass data into a form that Encrypt Stick would accept took half an hour of manual editing. I did succeed in the end, but only after requesting a sample of the correct format from ENC Security Systems’ tech support.
Why didn’t I just export a sample and study that to learn the format? The export to .CSV feature doesn’t work. It produces a file, but the file is filled with gibberish. After some experimentation I determined that the “gibberish” is actually an encrypted copy of the password data, not the promised .CSV file. The password management feature could definitely use some work.
I also checked the help system to see if it would explain the import process. Or rather, I tried. There is in fact no help system, just a link to the product’s online FAQ. To get help for anything that is not covered in the FAQ you have to e-mail tech support.
Eradicating The Kinks
Encrypt Stick offers a good implementation of file protection by encryption. It uses two-factor authentication, and it can protect portable files on the device itself as well as local files on any number of other computers. The onboard private browser lets you surf the Web on a foreign PC without any risk of leaving private data behind.
The password management doesn’t seem as polished as the rest of the product. It looks good, but it lacks the automation that would make it actually useful. And its import/export system doesn’t work quite right. If you’re looking for a portable password manager, look elsewhere. Still, if you need encryption-based protection for local files and portable files, with private browsing as a bonus, Encrypt Stick can be quite useful.
Pros
Turns any USB drive into secure portable storage. Can create local encrypted folders with two -factor authentication. Private browser allows surfing on foreign PCs leaving no traces behind. Includes password management. Virtual keyboard for safe password entry. Generates strong passwords. Version 4.2 is freeware.
Cons
Password manager requires manual entry of all data. Limited ability to automatically open Web sites using saved credentials. Password import/export facility not working correctly. Can’t configure password generator to match specific password policies.
In Conclusion
Encrypt Stick 5.0 turns any USB drive into secure portable storage for your important files. It also serves as the key to unlock local encrypted folders. An onboard private browser lets you surf without leaving traces. Its weak point is the password manager, which doesn’t seem quite finished. It’s all good though… I have it on my USB stick
10 Essential Features of Web Hosting
Anyone that wants to be seen on the Internet needs to have a website. There are literally thousands of web hosts to choose from so finding the right web hosting packages can be a confusing process, especially if you are new to web hosting. This series of articles will assist you in sorting out all the information available and give you the confidence to make the best decision about choosing reliable web hosting. You will find that web hosting packages can vary in pricing as well as the features they offer
such as the amount of disk space and bandwidth available, data transfers, number of domains and email boxes, privacy and security settings, website design and marketing tools, technical support and guaranteed uptime. Knowing what your requirements are is essential to making a smart choice.
Let’s look at the features that are essential to reliable web hosting:
1. DISK SPACE / STORAGE A web hosting account has an allotment of disk/storage space that you rent on a server. The amount of storage will include all of the content of your web pages, any graphic or audiovisual content you may use on those pages, any files that are available for visitors to download and any space that you may use for emails. You will also need to allow space for the various log files that are enerated by the server that keeps track of visitors to your site and what pages they click on. You may want to choose a package with additional disk space so as you add more content such as pictures, music, videos or downloadable files that require more disk space, there are no additional costs. Databases are usually calculated separately from your disk/storage space allocated, so check with your web host to see what their policy covers.
2. DATA TRANSFER / BANDWIDTH These two functions are an important factor when choosing reliable web hosting. They are similar but different aspects of the same process that work hand in hand.
Data transfer is how much data is being transferred on a monthly basis. Your website may not be accessible the less data transfer that is allocated on a monthly basis. Going over your allocated limit can result in a fee or even a temporary shutdown of your website. Be sure to choose a plan with more data transfer than your current needs to allow for additional traffic and content.
Bandwidth is how much data can be transferred at one time. The less bandwidth you are allocated, the slower your website takes to load regardless of the speed of the visitors connection. Higher bandwidth is expensive because it ties up the servers resources and can affect the performance of other customer sites on the server. An important factor to consider when choosing a web host is the fact that they can terminate your Domain name and close the account without refund.
3. DOMAIN NAME The Domain name is your unique name and address on the Worldwide Web. Domain registration is the process that an individual or a company secures a website domain, such as www.yoursite.com. Once you have completed domain registration, the domain name becomes yours for a specified period of time, usually one year. You must renew you domain name before your registration expires, or the domain reverts back to being available to the general public. Be sure
that you own your domain name. Some web hosts maintain control of the domains they register so its important that you retain the option to transfer the domain to another registrar. You should read the “Terms and Conditions” regarding maintaining your privacy and any additional fees to transfer to your domain to another registrar.
4. DEDICATED VS. SHARED IP ADDRESS An Internet Protocol address, or better known as an IP address, is the numerical address of the website that tells other computers where to find the server host and your domain on the Internet.
There are advantages to having a dedicated IP address vs. a shared IP address which is explained in the next section.
Dedicated IP Address means that your site is the only one on the Internet using that IP address number. The advantages of having a dedicated IP address are that you can get your site better SEO (search engine optimization) ratings which make your website more visible and easier to find; there are better security and privacy options. A Private SSL Certificate was created to confirm the identity of a website or server and ensure secure transactions between web servers and browsers. In order to keep clients information secure, a Private SSL Certificate is required for ECommerce websites that accept online credit card payments.
Shared IP Address means there could be hundreds of websites sharing one server that share a single IP address. Shared IP addresses make it easier for hosting companies to manage and maintain their servers and offer this feature at a lower cost. The downside to this feature is if other websites sharing your IP address are banned or blacklisted due to spamming or scamming, their actions directly affect your website. Your website could disappear from the search engines and your email could be blocked by Internet Service Providers (ISP). A Shared SSL Certificate gives you the benefits of a SSL Certificate at a lower cost and still provides a secure URL (Uniform Resource Locator). Many Ecommerce websites provide Shared SSL to their business clients.
5. EMAIL FEATURES Email hosting offers a variety of features for both individuals and businesses. Some of the features offered are customized email addresses, import/export your address book, unlimited storage, webmail accessible from your mobile phone or PDA, calendar alerts, mail forwarding, auto responders, email filters that protect you from viruses and spam, phone and email tech support.
6. GUARANTEED UPTIME This is one of the most important features of a reliable web hosting provider. Guaranteed uptime means your website is guaranteed to be up at least 99.9% of the time and available to visitors. When your website is unavailable, traffic and potential clients will be drawn to your competitors sites and ultimately lost sales. This guarantee should include network uptime, server uptime, web server and service uptime as well as 24/7 support.
7. CONTROL PANEL FEATURES The most important job that a website owner has is creating and management of the website(s) and its content. The C-Panel features the tools for uploading and managing web pages, managing domains, subdomains, FTP accounts, creating parked domains, add-on domains, protecting your directories, redirecting visitors to another location, website statistics, back up data, virus protection and spam filters, the tools to keep your privacy and security.
8. PRIVACY & SECURITY The security of your communications such as unauthorized or sensitive data are a huge concern. Some of the security tools that a web host may include are SSL secure servers, SSL certificates, high quality software that can prevent other websites from directly accessing your databases and files, anti-virus protection, reliable authentication, secure payment processing, firewall protection, use of strong passwords, email encryption and strict privacy policies.
9. TECH SUPPORT A reliable web hosting provider should have technical support available 24/7. Get a quick reply to your support ticket should any issues arise and getting instant support via a live chat service or telephone support.
10. WEBSITE BUILDING TOOLS Even if you have no prior knowledge or experience, Website building tools are often offered as part of a web hosting package. The more advanced website building tools teach you how to add a photo album, guestbook, ads, newsletters, blogs, FAQ module, visitor tracker, banner rotator, auto installer software for blogs, forums, galleries and much more.
For more information about web hosting services, plan options as well as a Free Membership for access to a huge selection of free products, software and marketing tools worth thousands of dollars. So make your web presence stand out, no matter what your experience level. Don’t miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime, visit