When your data security matters.

@teegees

11 ай бұрын

Hi Leo. Thanks for pointing out the downsides. What would you recommend as a decent solution if I want the secured data on the external hard drive to be accessible via Windows AND MacOS? I know the drive needs to be formatted a certain way (FAT32 was it?) first, but then what can be done to secure the entire drive’s contents, without being tied to an operating system?

@askleonotenboom

11 ай бұрын

@@teegees exFAT should work as a format. If I had to solve this problem myself, I'd use CryptoMator. While it's thought of as cloud encryption, it really just operates on files and folders on your device. Should work nicely for this type of operation. Only risk I can see is unknown consequences of accidentally disconnecting an external drive while the CryptoMator volume is mounted. Protect yourself with good backups.

@teegees

11 ай бұрын

@@askleonotenboom Thank you Leo, I hadn’t heard of that tool. I’ll give it a shot. On a separate note, what’s your take on the most secure cloud storage solutions out there?

@askleonotenboom

11 ай бұрын

@@teegees Depends on what you mean by "most secure". The popular ones are fine -- Dropbox OneDrive, GoogleDrive and others. If you have things that are particularly sensitive it really doesn't matter how secure the service is, you should be encrypting yourself before even uploading. Cryptomator is great for that.

Just a note. Creation of a Bitlocker encrypted drive requires win 10/11 Pro. But you can attach it to a win 10/11 home edition computer after creation and use it just as easily as with a Pro edition. ,

your explanation and soft voice is great, wish more instructors had this approach.

This tutorial was extremely coherent, thanks!

A great detailed video. Thank you.

Thanks for explaining this to us viewers.

Awesome tutorial!

Very helpful, thank you

Hi Leo, great video! To overcome the drawback of installing veracrypt in each device you use to access your data, you can make a partition in the same external drive in which you encrypt your data and install veracrypt portable in that partition. It's a longer and trickier process but it's worth the effort.

@gr0wnup5

2 ай бұрын

s.m.a.r.t. 👏

Excellent, Thank you

Thank You!

Sir! You deserve a Like and a subscription!

Nice!! thanks

very good content, thank you.

Thank you

dude... you are THE SHIT!!!! 😁thanks for all of your very helpful videos.😊

Thanks

What a job. I just hope veracrypt won't have such an issue like the recent XZ backdoor threat. Anything is possible in the virtual world, it seems.

Very good explanation. I do have a quick question, though. You didn't quite state what the ramifications are of rebooting without dismounting the encrypted VeraCrypt drive. What happens if I forget or when Windows auto reboots to apply Win updates?

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

It SHOULD be OK, but if course it's safer to dismount manually.

I'm just watching your video now - and maybe this video isn't quite addressing my issue w data security. I have a question as I am buying a new external hard drive for my Mac. I didn't realize I wasn't using the Mac encryption feature my current external hard drive (which is almost full so I cannot set up encryption moving forward). With this new external hard drive I will set up encryption on my Mac for my time machine back ups right away! But I am also going to buy a secure external HDD - bc I have some files not on my laptop that I want to move to this external hdd and want to have them encrypted as well. I am going to do a tech clean up later this year so bring a secure external hdd is a stop gap measure to ensure no files with any sensitive personal data are left unencrypted on my new external hdd. Does this make sense or am I being too secure now? Is there such a thing?! Thank you!

When listing the "con's", perhaps also mention that Bitlocker is SLOW"? "Microsoft says it takes 1 minute to encrypt or de-encrypt 500MB. So a 400GB hard drive would take over 13 hours to encrypt or de-encrypt.

If you're super paranoid then dont use proprietary software because these might still have backdoors installed. I think the best option is open source software like cryptomator, or better yet use existing libraries and encrypt the files yourself. I used python and IPWorks internal libraries.

Thank you for this informative video (I liked and subscribed immediately!). A question: Running Windows 10 (Home and Student edition), my 2TB external hard drive is set up to automatically backup the C drive contents every hour. So the external drive is always plugged in, and windows "knows" to back up to that drive. If I were to follow the VeraCrypt procedures you describe, would I need to "tell" Windows to auto-backup to the new mounted drive (analogous to the F drive described in your video) or should I continue having Windows auto-backup to the drive letter my external hard drive is already mapped to (analogous to the E drive in your video)? Thanks in advance for your reply!

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

I'd have to know HOW you have Windows set to auto-back up. Their image backup is no longer recommended and doesn't automatically backup as I recall, so I'm not sure what you're using.

@speekosloff

Жыл бұрын

@@askleonotenboom Thank you for your reply. The C drive is automatically backing up to my external hard drive. I set it up using the steps below, which I got from the video linked below. Does this information clarify enough to answer my initial question? Settings -> Update&Security -> Backup -> Add a drive (in my case, an external hard drive) -> With "automatically back up my files" turned on, select More options and specify to back files up to the drive every hour and keep the backups for a year. Finally, click "Back up now." My end goal is to have this external drive routinely backing up (as described above), but also encrypted using VeraCrypt. kzread.info/dash/bejne/iKuf26-xhKisktI.html

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

So to be clear, that's not a backup in the sense that it's not backing up your system at all. That's "File History", which only backs up data files from certain locations, as they change. I don't know that File History will work with the contents of a VeraCrypt container. It MAY back up the encrypted container IF a) the container is in one of the places that File History backs up, and b) the container is not mounted. Hope that helps?

@speekosloff

Жыл бұрын

@@askleonotenboom Thank you, again, for replying. I am trying to grasp this. The File History is set only to back up my (selected) C drive files, loading all changed files to my (currently unencrypted) external hard drive, which is in the F drive. So I'm already able to perform this File History backup using a drive that is not in one of the places the File History is backing up - but you're suggesting that might be different if I used a VeraCrypt container? Also, as to the potential need for the container to NOT be mounted for encryption to work - I'm confused. I thought, in your video, you indicated that - after encrypting - Windows will not be able to recognize the drive's previous location; and that the only way to access the drive from within Windows is by mounting it an available drive. So I came under the impression that, after encryption, the only way Windows could do the hourly File History backup to the drive would be if the drive were mounted through VeraCrypt and the Windows File History backup was set to backup the files to the mounted drive.

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

@@speekosloff What's unclear is if you're attempting to backup what's ON the encrypted drive, or if you're attempting to back up TO the encrypted drive. I don't thnk File History will let you do the latter, but if it does it should be as simple as mounting the drive, and selecting it when you "Add Drive" in File History.

This information was so helpful... Seriously thank you so much. Do you know if the files encrypted from Bitlocker can be accessed on a non Windows-Pro device after encryption? Do you also have any preference as far as security from the two? Veracrypt seems pretty secure, but Bitlocker seems super easy. I worry about not having the correct version of Veracrypt in the future and then losing access to my files,or something like that, idk...

@askleonotenboom

4 ай бұрын

As long as you have the Bitlocker recovery key, you should be able to access it from any Windows (but only Windows) machine. VeraCrypt has done a good job of maintaining backwards compatibility.

@patricktessier7238

4 ай бұрын

@@askleonotenboom Thank you so much for your videos and your help. This seriously walked me all the way through and answered all of my questions. I feel like I should pay you lol. My data and I thank you so much. Subscribed

I am using, e. g. Veracrypt. Seems to be a one-man-show. A backdoor-I do not know. Very little encryption software available, surprisingly? MS software is very probably backdoored, as their other crap, too. With V. u can encrypt ur pc completely-it works! Even on very old machines.

14:31 There is a workaround -- VeraCrypt 1.22 (03/2018) introduced portable mode for Windows, i.e. it does not need to be installed using admin privileges anymore. That's great news for encrypted portable drives, and e.g. USB boot-devices that need to access encrypted harddrives.

Many thanks and it is a great video.....Question for you, please....I have a Windows and a Mac...for this to work on the Mac, Do I also need to load Vera crypt in the same fashion I did on the Windows PC? Thanks, R

@askleonotenboom

16 күн бұрын

To use VeraCrypt, yes. I believe Mac's may have a different native solution, though.

@rich6244

16 күн бұрын

@@askleonotenboom I would be going back and forth between computers...that is more my question. I was not concise earlier...thanks again Using the same Aux Drive

Thank you for the step by step guide to do VeraCrypt. Really useful. I managed to do it on a portable 1Tb HD. Merrily putting files on it. And was able to put several folders and mount and dismount etc. Alas, 1 large folder took a bit long, so left it overnight. Next morning, found my little (not powerful and old) Surface Tablet had crashed (White screen). Had to Forced Quit. Was able to Mount the HD again with warning about not "Unmounting" the last time. But the drive was now error-ridden. Couldn't put files on it and error in reading files from it. So....... Had to start all over - reformat and install VeraCrypt again. I may have done something wrong other than "Not Dismounting" the drive or my Surface is just not powerful enough, Idk. Anybody have any comment ? So it won't happen again...... By the way, VeraCrypt is not available for older Mac (10.15).

Hi Leo, great video! One question. Once you use bit locker to create password for an external drive, can you later remove the password? Or this is permanent feature once done? Thanks

@askleonotenboom

10 ай бұрын

I believe it can be removed, yes. If nothing else, copy off the data, reformat the drive without BitLocker, and copy the data back. (But I believe it can also just be turned off.)

@jkproductions9885

10 ай бұрын

Great! Thanks for the quick response!

can this be used on chromebook? if not, any suggestions for one that works w/ chromebook?

Leo - thank you very much for your excellent explanations (all of them, not just this one). Quick question - I read somewhere that Bitlocker (at least in some applications) can be used without a password, if the computer is equipped with a TPM chip. Supposedly the TPM/Bitlocker combo prevents anyone from removing the HD and putting it into a different computer. But I'm confused - if Bitlocker encrypts your data, what good would removing the drive and putting it into another machine do? Isn't the data on the drive still gibberish without the password? I was under the impression that Bitlocker was ONLY a data encryption tool. What else does it do?

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

Bitlocker has a couple of different modes. Whole disk encryption at the system drive level is different than turning it on separately for an external drive. I agree it's completely confusing.

@JasonEngland

Жыл бұрын

@@askleonotenboom Thanks for the reply. I dug around and I think that what the TPM is doing is "beefing up" the human's password by adding extra characters to your normal password. We all know humans are notoriously bad at coming up with long passwords, so without the TPM module, it's likely that an HD could be removed and the typical, weak 8-character (or worse) password could be cracked offline. But WITH a TPM module, your actual password is your 8 characters, PLUS the ones the TPM added. That makes for a very secure (lengthy) password. Taking the HD out of the computer wouldn't do an attacker any good, since all of the extra added characters to your PW would be left behind on the TPM chip. I'm not 100% sure that's right, but I think that's the gist of it. Anyway, thanks for what you do.

Is WD password encryption like My Book as safe as Bitlocker?

I still use truecrypt. Very similar

Thank you for the video. VeraCrypt makes mentions that the PGP signature needs to be verified. Should this be done before VeraCrypt for Windows 11 is downloaded, or can this be ignored?

@askleonotenboom

8 ай бұрын

If it's what I think it is, it's for verifying that the download is correct, and the official version. So, if you do it (it's optional) it would have to be after you download.

@brianread8200

8 ай бұрын

Thank you. The PGP signature confused me a little including the steps to verify it with other software required to do so

If I have a bootable USB with recovery tools, and I apply Bitlocker, will it still be bootable?

Hi, is this the same process to Password-Protect an additional Internal Hard Drive? Ty

@askleonotenboom

Ай бұрын

A second hard drive, yes.

Hi Leo..good explanation but I have a question.. It took 24hrs to encrypt my 2tb wd elements EHD..but my data is only 200 gb in that rest 1.8tb unused but my EHD is now encrypted through veracrypt..my question is how can I use the remaining 1.8tb space which was encrypted earlier?

@askleonotenboom

8 ай бұрын

If you mount the drive it should still show as ~2TB.

Thank you for that excellent explanation. I encrypted my 4TB external hard drive And I put a password that I remember very good but now after one week it doesn't respond and tell me that automount failed (for sure not from the pass). What can I do for that ? Please help. Note : I encrypted my second 2TB external hard drive and worked properly and i dismount it very quick but after the first one Could be the vera crypet get confused with volumes?

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

I'd reach out to the VeraCrypt support forums.

@mamacmarino

9 ай бұрын

might be a damage encrypt file when we forgot to click the usb safely remove

the reason why i wanted to remove it because when i mounted it to disk F , i clicked the wrong disk which is E and it asked me to format it and i selected yes, now every time i try to use disk f where i mounted my files its asking to format that disk too which is the one with files in it, and if i click yes it says my files will be erased. help please

I was using Bitlocker (Win 10 Pro) to encrpyt a 1 TB external drive when the process got freeze at 98.2%. I waited for hours then restart my computer. After I input my password to unlock the drive, my File Explorer and Manage Bitlocker in Control Panel freeze (not responding), the CMD can not run any command.

I can't decide what to do. I have a 5TB external hard drive with all my life on it. I've backed it up on 2 more identical drives. What if something goes wrong after I encrypt these drives... It happened to a lot of people when their encrypted drives all of a sudden started malfunctioning due to encryption failure. I could keep them unencrypted: 1 drive in my safe, 1 hidden in my basement and the third one hidden elsewhere. But if they are ever stolen, it would be absolutely devastating. All my important documents, all kinds of sensitive info are on these drives. To encrypt or not to encrypt, that is the question.

Hi Leo, it's showing me 11 hours to encrypt my 1TB external hard drive, is that normal? In your video, it took only few seconds to encrypt. There is no data on my external hard drive either. Looking forward to your reply. Thanks

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

Could be. Depends on the options you chose, and the speed of the interface. (USB 2, for example, could EASILY take that long.)

Well, I downloaded and set up VeraCrypt on a relatively 'fresh' Windows 11 PC. Word to the wise: copying files to the VersSoft-encrypted volume on a brand-new Seagate 8TB external hard drive is excruciatingly slow, on the order of less than 5MBS. If you have a folder to copy with over 1000 files totaling, say, 700 MB, expect it to take at least 2 full minutes with no other programs running. Anything over a few thousand files being copy-pasted at a time seems to lock up the VeraCrypt software completely once it surpasses about 29 or 30% of the transfer. Too bad, really, as I don't feel like paying Uncle Bill for the BitLocker software that honestly should be included in the Windows 11 Home Edition. But this is far too slow to be of any practical value for high-volume back-up.

@jamesedwards3923

10 ай бұрын

No, that would make sense. 😅🤣😂

Has anyone considered what happens if data corruption occurs in blocks or sectors where the BL password is stored on the drive? I've had at least a couple of dozen users cry when learning their hard drives are forever encrypted. And BitLocker (back in the day) was rife with bugs that constantly tripped the need to enter the Recovery Key. And sometimes, that Recovery Key doesn't work for any number of reasons. I'm just not a fan.

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

It doesn't have to be BitLocker. Any encryption can fail due to data corruption. This is why I so strongly advise backing up the unencrypted data, and then securing it some other way. (A different encryption would suffice.)

2:50 Hell No..... as if I would give my home keys to criminals

Leo....Veracrypt is the one for me. On external HD, How do I get rid of the encryption later as needed ?

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

Reformat the drive. (I don't think VeraCrypt has an "undo" :-) ).

@dbest4755

Жыл бұрын

@@askleonotenboom On external HD, will new image backups be affected ? do I need to enter password before image backup ?

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

@@dbest4755 It depends on how you have things set up. What's encrypted the system or th ebackup? If you're VeraCrypt, is it mounted? Are you backing up to or from an encrypted drive? With VeraCrypt, mounting requires a password but then you can backup, or backup to, the mounted drive like any other.

@dbest4755

Жыл бұрын

@@askleonotenboom I run image and file backups automatically several times a day to external non-encrypted HD

Are there any methods to avoid the Windows pop-up that suggests formatting the encrypted hard drive every time you connect to it? I just want to avoid accidently clicking on that option when it appears.

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

Depends on how you're encrypting it but in general no not that I'm aware of.

Hi, I am doing in Bitlocker in Windows 10, while its in process, unfortunately my system got restated and now I am unable to process the Bitlocker and i am unable to open my external hard drive, could you please let me know how to recover this now.

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

You may not be able to. Restarting during the encryption process basically leaves a mess. I don't know of a way to recover.

Hey I need your help Vera crypt won’t let me auto mount it keeps failing even though I have put right password in

@askleonotenboom

11 ай бұрын

I'd have you reach out to the VeraCrypt support/forums. I'm sure there are many things that could go wrong.

The type of the file system is NTFS. The first NTFS boot sector is unreadable or corrupt. Reading second NTFS boot sector instead. Unable to determine volume version and state. CHKDSK aborted. Sir What does it mean? I can't open the disk drive.......

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

There's really no way to know. It depends on the underlying problem that's causing your specific situation. I just had this happen recently and ended up reformatting the disk and losing everything on it. THIS is why backups are important. (I lost nothing, having backed up, but ended up erasing the disk.)

@rakeshramans7652

Жыл бұрын

@@askleonotenboom THANK YOU Sir For this information...

In wish you'd have put a better warning on this at very beginning like "please watch whole video before starting" as stupidly i watched first bit of video and got started now its taking 15 hours to encrypt to and i didn't see the mount file bit, so i have probably now lost the files i wanted to keep safe der im so stupid

Does take double size? I mean I have 4tb hard dive so I need 8 gb ?

@askleonotenboom

11 ай бұрын

I don't understand the question in relationship to this video. Can you clarify?

@wildcatslife686

11 ай бұрын

@@askleonotenboom I mean will bit locker take size of Hdd? For example if the drive has 2tp will it be 4 to because I use bitlocker?

@askleonotenboom

11 ай бұрын

@@wildcatslife686 The size of the drive does not change.

@wildcatslife686

11 ай бұрын

@@askleonotenboom thank you so much for that !

Why not use Boxcrytor?

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

Well, that doesn't directly answer the question (how to protect the DRIVE), but yes, that's also a valid alternative.

Why would 'anybody' upload the recovery keyfile to a cloud storage device. In an unencrypted state?

@jamesedwards3923

Жыл бұрын

@@00Kode00 LOL, 😂😂🤣😅🤣😂😔😳😦😱🤔🤔🤔O wait. You are serious. So you expect me to store sensitive data on the cloud. Yet not encrypt it independently? If any moron can access your data. Without knowing the encryption schemes. It is not secure. Let me remind you. That all encryption can be broken. All hashes can be deciphered. All it takes are the bare minimal in equipment, money, and time. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashcat en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Ripper These two popular programs are open source. Any hash can be extracted from all known and unknown hash algorithms. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptographic_hash_function Remember although Apple recently made a decision on cloud storage, finally! Guess what most of the cloud storage servers have the keys and or your hashes to your cloud. So if you are storing sensitive data. Not independently encrypted. Good luck dude. techcrunch.com/2022/12/07/apple-launches-end-to-end-encryption-for-icloud-data/ support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303 www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/how-to-set-up-apples-new-icloud-encryption-security-feature/ www.apple.com/privacy/features/#:~:text=End%2Dto%2Dend%20encryption,-End%2Dto%2Dend&text=iMessage%20and%20FaceTime%20are%20designed,them%20on%20your%20device%20indefinitely. www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/how-to-set-up-apples-new-icloud-encryption-security-feature/ www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/12/apple-advances-user-security-with-powerful-new-data-protections/

@jamesedwards3923

10 ай бұрын

@@00Kode00 Go look up how most cloud services. Most of them even if the service 'encrypts' the storage. They have the keys to the data. Which means, it is fucking worthless. Warrant or not. Totalitarian government or not. Legal or not. If someone has the keys to the door. Then your door is much less secure. If you want to store your recovery keyfile in a file. Where anybody else can access it. Good luck.

what happens if i don't unmount the partition before pc turns off? example: when a eletric issue happens on my street

@askleonotenboom

7 ай бұрын

It's usually OK. Most of these solutions are pretty resilient. It's really only if the disk was being written to at exactly the time of the power off where things get dicey. This is why you should be backing up the data elsewhere as well.

HI Leo. :-) I am unfortunately fairly sure I have by accident found a way to read 90% of all documents, including video, text and music, from a VeraCrypt drive. It is so easy that even a 12 yo can do it with nearly no instructions. I would like for you to test if I am right, or it was just a fluke on my PC. But I won't write how to do it on YT, no need to tell everybody! :-)

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

Please report your findings to the VeraCrypt people.

@friedmule5403

Жыл бұрын

@@askleonotenboom Yes great idea, unfortunately do I not think they can do much about it, it would demand a totally new approach. I had 128 letters password, two 3 Mb crypt files and still could I read the content as clear as day.

The problem is that using VeraCrypt requires you to have it installed on every machine you want to use the drive on. The flaw is that if you want to remove the decryption, it will render your drive unusable.

@askleonotenboom

7 ай бұрын

Unusable? That's not been my experience.

Bitlocker doesn't work for Windows 10 sir.

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

Works for me. I'd have to know more about why you say it doesn't.

@pacificoceania5828

Жыл бұрын

@@askleonotenboom I watched other video , and I tried it but it didn't work. After posted my comment on the video there were four people saying the same thing. They encountered the same problem..no bitlock on windows 10.

@askleonotenboom

Жыл бұрын

@@pacificoceania5828 Home Edition? That could be the reason. Works in Windows 10 Pro.

Windows manages passwords. Without Windows, no password. You can power up a computer without running Windows and access the storage.

@askleonotenboom

9 ай бұрын

Not if the storage is encrypted. (BitLocker or VeraCrypt or others)

oof, i dont like the "format me" button so readily for anybody who gets that message.

@askleonotenboom

2 ай бұрын

It's almost always the wrong thing to do.

Disappointed! I used very crypt…followed your instructions. It worked for the first two trials of plugging it and unplugging it. Now I’m unable to access my files 🤦‍♂️ It keeps giving me error messages. Totally unreliable!!☹️☹️😣😣😑

@etheghus5049

11 ай бұрын

*veracrypt

@askleonotenboom

11 ай бұрын

In my experience it works well. I'd reach out to the VeraCrypt people for assistance.