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Lock up your secrets with encryption software
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Encryption and cryptographic software has been used in many different ways to make systems more secure. This article discusses only a few ways that such software can make your system more secure, including:
- Encrypting your email
- Encrypting your files
There are hundreds of programs available that will help encrypt information. PGP and AxCrypt are two excellent choices and they have the added benefit of both being free with source code available.
Encryption simply makes it harder for people to gain access to important information, such as passwords or other sensitive information in a file. The algorithm used for encryption can be simple or complex. A complex encryption algorithm is harder tho break than a simple one. The algorithm affects how securely the information you have encrypted is protected.
Encrypting your e-mail
Email is far less secure than paper mail for two very good reasons: first, electronic data can be accessed easily over an Internet and secondly, electronic data is really simple to copy. There is a very good chance that someone has snooped around in your email despite your best intentions to stop it.
There are many programs out there that can help you encrypt your email. A very popular one is PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) or its Gnu offshoot GPG.
PGP is a program that gives your electronic mail something that it otherwise doesn't have: Privacy. It does this by encrypting your mail so that nobody but the intended person can read it. When encrypted, the message looks like a meaningless jumble of random characters. PGP has proven itself quite capable of resisting even the most sophisticated forms of analysis aimed at reading the encrypted text.
Why bother to encrypt my files?
The answer to this boils down to what you store on your computer. If you have financial data with important information like social security numbers, email addresses, account numbers and passwords, then you open yourself up to losing very valuable information. Most corporate Internet security employees will attest to the widespread theft of very valuable information. As long as you are connected to the Internet you are vulnerable.
Check out AxCrypt File Encryption Software, self-described as "Free Personal Privacy and Security for Windows 98/ME/NT/2K/XP with AES-128 File Encryption, Compression and transparent Decrypt and Open in the original application."
