File and Folder Encryption

[TorchlightJay]

Ya, so I we all have files that we don't want any tom, dick, or harry to see and so encryption is neccessary. Anyone know how to encrypt files and folders? What's a good program to use and what tutorials apply to it? Thank you for your time and assistance.

[earobinson]

you could zip them with a password

[netlogic]

There might be a better solution, but I like Truecrypt. It is for Windows and Linux. Linux version is CLI only.

http://www.truecrypt.org/
documentation
http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/

[cobrn1]

Truecrypt is quite cool, but it's quite complicated and linux has only a CLI ver. To be honest, if he just wants to hide a few files then it's a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut (however, it would work, if you have very sensitive files it very good and it sort-of gives you plausible deniability - you'd have to look at the website to find out more).

However, if my memory serves me right if they are zipped into a .rar file you can but a password on that and that's unbreakable (it is encrypted - not just 'passworded') - brute force is the only way, so choose a long password.

Have a look at the truecrypt website and see if it interests you. If not then zipping files almost certainly covers your needs.

[netlogic]

I don't know anything about using passwords on a zip or rar. If it uses some form of hash and it is possible to extract the hash key, It is possible to use predefined tables to crack within few minutes. That isn't a brut force. This is just matching the key someone already defined. I haven't really researched it. I would go with an encryption. Once, Truecrypt is setup, it is really easy to use. Gpg is easier, but less robust compare to Truecrypt.

To encrypt with gpg
gpg -c filename
To extract
gpg filename

[Mike'sHardLinux]

During my usual reading at Ubuntuforums, I am sure I have come across at least 1 gui frontend for Truecrypt. Do a search.....

[elst]

FWIW, Seahorse provides a graphical interface to GnuPG.

[HeadGeek]

During my usual reading at Ubuntuforums, I am sure I have come across at least 1 gui frontend for Truecrypt. Do a search.....
If that was Forcefield, I haven't gotten it to work properly so far.

[Konqi]

FWIW, Seahorse provides a graphical interface to GnuPG.

Seahorse is only a GPG and SSH key manager (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seahorse_(software)).

GPA "aims to be the standard GnuPG graphical frontend" (http://www.gnupg.org/related_software/frontends.en.html).

[vanadium]

Another option is encfs. While truecrypt creates an encrypted volume where you store your files, encfs encrypts at the "file" level. There is a nice how-to here:
http://www.debuntu.org/node?page=5