Summary
Encryption protects all your data online, but its probably not something you often think about. However, you may want to encrypt individual files on your devices. Here’s three ways that you can do it.
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Digital encryption is something you probably don’t think about too often. But without encryption, there would be no way to send sensitive information across the web. While encryption is almost universal online, it may not apply to the files on your devices. Here’s how you can make sure your sensitive files are encrypted.
For Personal Tech Media, this is Two Minute Tech. I’m Jim Herman.
Why would you want to encrypt a file? Well, here’s one example. I saved my old bank statements, but I don’t want to send those statements to an online storage location. My files are likely encrypted while they’re in storage, but the storage vendor has the key to decrypt them.
Instead, I encrypt the files myself and upload that encrypted copy. Even if the storage provider decrypts those files with its key, they will still be encrypted with my own password as well.
You can encrypt any file if you have the Pro or the Enterprise version of Windows. Right click on the file or folder, select Properties, click Advanced, and then check the option that reads Encrypt Contents to Secure Data. I recommend backing up your encryption key and saving it somewhere else so you don’t lose access to those files.
If you’re working with an Office document, you can enable encryption by going to the File menu, clicking Info, and selecting Protect Document.
And finally, a program like AES Crypt can encrypt any file. After you install the program, right click on the file and select Encrypt File. You’ll be prompted to type in a password. Enter a secure one and the computer will generate an encrypted version of your file.