From The Naked PC issue #5.01...

PGP - Protecting Many Files at Once

by Dan Butler
January 3, 2002

You've learned how to use PGP to encrypt sensitive email, sensitive data, and sensitive files. Now you'll learn how to encrypt entire directories of data and how to quickly access their contents when you need to.

PGPdisk creates a "virtual" disk on your computer with all of the data encrypted. To access one of your PGPdisks you must "mount" it. PGPdisk will ask for the passphrase before mounting the disk then assign it a drive letter on your system. After your disk is mounted, all of the data inside your disk is available to any program you have running. When you are through using your data, unmount the disk and your data is safe from the prying eyes of anyone who doesn't know your passphrase.

If PGPdisk would help you with your data security the first thing you'll need to do is install it. PGPdisk comes with the commercial version of PGP. If you didn't purchase a copy of this handy program you can download the PGP Disk program from the PGP International site:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/501/tr.cgi?dan1

Note that PGPdisk is not available from the MIT download site. After installing PGPdisk you need to configure a virtual disk for your system. Click the PGP Lock icon in the system tray (lower right corner) of your screen. Choose PGPdisk / New Disk to start the PGPdisk Creation Wizard. Follow the steps to create your new private disk.

------ Tip -----
Put the letters PGP in the name you assign your PGPdisk. Then it's easy to tell which disks are encrypted and which aren't in file dialog boxes.
------ Tip -----

One option you'll want to consider is whether you want your PGPdisk to automatically be available when you boot your computer. By default PGPdisk pops up and asks for your passphrase every time your computer boots. If you would rather PGPdisk not do this choose the "Advanced Options" button on the second screen of the PGP Disk dialog. Uncheck the box "Mount it at startup". In my case I use more than one PGPdisk. The disk with my frequently used data loads at startup. I load the other disk as needed.

With PGPdisk all the data you store on that volume will be encrypted. But don't think that makes your data totally safe. For starters programs may leave temporary files laying around with your data. Plus if you leave your PGPdisk mounted anyone using your computer has access to your encrypted data. Be sure to unmount the drive before you leave your computer unattended.

Here is the biggest issue though. PGPdisk prevents others from viewing the information in your files but it doesn't prevent them from copying, renaming, or deleting your data. Since all the data you've put on your PGPdisk resides in a single file on your system simply deleting that file will delete all your data. Make sure you keep a backup copy of your PGPdisk in case of a problem. I personally keep a copy on a rewriteable CD-ROM. While you are at it put a copy of PGP and a copy of your public keyring on your backup disk as well. Should you need to get up to speed quickly you'll have your install files handy. Keep the backup of your private keyring separate.

If you missed earlier segments of this series point your browser here:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/501/tr.cgi?dan2

You can reach Dan Butler at:
mailto:danbutler@TheNakedPC.com

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