NerdNamedMatt Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 This is something we have had on our minds for a while, but the time has finally came to start encrypting staff memory pens. I have looked at a couple of different pieces of software; Toucan and TrueCrypt. Currently TrueCrypt looks to be the more secure, but Toucan is more user friendly for staff. Like all places of work we have staff of varied ability and as such, some would have trouble getting used to mounting their pen drives every time they want to use them. Does anyone know of a way to automate TrueCrypt to mount a volume and simply prompt for a password rather than the user have to mount it manually? As for Toucan, what do others make of it? We haven't had enough time to try it out in a classroom environment. We do have a couple of staff willing to trial both pieces of software for us (Both tech savvy and non-tech savvy staff, just in case!) to see how they get on using it and to iron out any bugs which may arise.
Michael Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 You should have a look at Bitlocker. It auto runs and prompts for the password. The volume's then ready to use immediately. The best part is that it's free
NerdNamedMatt Posted January 22, 2014 Author Posted January 22, 2014 You should have a look at Bitlocker. It auto runs and prompts for the password. The volume's then ready to use immediately. The best part is that it's free Bitlocker would be perfect for use in school, unfortunately I believe there is no OS X Support? Therefore using on home devices is a bit trickier. Good idea though!
Michael Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 That's correct, but you could get round it with bootcamp - copying data locally or to the network, it depends on your set up
CHR1S Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 Memory Pen? I have never heard a Memory stick referred to as a pen, erm, ever. :-p
edutech4schools Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 I would look at hardware encrypted memory sticks. Something like this Integral Crypto with AES encryption USB flash drive - 4 GBI Some also auto wipe if wrong password is used 5 times. 1
aleach2 Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 (edited) We decided not to encrypt their own memory sticks. We just asked them personally or for their departments to buy hardware encrypted sticks. We use these Encrypted USB Drives | Integral Memory They range from around £10-£24 depending on the size. Not going to break the bank and they are really easy to use. Might be easier, especially if you have to use them on both Mac and Windows. Note you will have to buy the ones which are compatible on both (and they are usually a couple of pounds more expensive) Adam. Edit: Snap @edutech4schools...... Just beat me to it Edited January 22, 2014 by aleach2
NerdNamedMatt Posted January 22, 2014 Author Posted January 22, 2014 Thanks for the responses guys, Yeah, option No. 2 would be to go down the route of pre-encrypted sticks (I honestly don't know why I called them pens before, too much time around the staff!!). It would save a hell of a lot of time on our end and would be just as secure. 1
bossman Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 @NerdNamedMatt: We've been using this for years: Free Encryption Software - Password Protect Files and Lock Folders Install and run it from a share works incredibly well 1
smidsy Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 Have just started using TrueCrypt for encrypting USB sticks and found it pretty easy so far. When you mount a USB stick in the program you can add it as a Favorite Volume and configure the program to automount the USB stick when it is plugged in from then onwards. Haven't had a problem with using this yet as our teachers only use their laptops or a single computer at home. If your teachers are going to be using a lot of different machines then that probably won't be a viable option as I can't see a way to automate the favorite process. It is also possible to use TrueCrypt in portable mode TrueCrypt Portable / Portable TrueCrypt although I have seen some people having problems with using this where users aren't administrators on the machines they are using. Haven't had a chance to play with this myself though...
NerdNamedMatt Posted January 22, 2014 Author Posted January 22, 2014 Have just started using TrueCrypt for encrypting USB sticks and found it pretty easy so far. When you mount a USB stick in the program you can add it as a Favorite Volume and configure the program to automount the USB stick when it is plugged in from then onwards. Haven't had a problem with using this yet as our teachers only use their laptops or a single computer at home. If your teachers are going to be using a lot of different machines then that probably won't be a viable option as I can't see a way to automate the favorite process. It is also possible to use TrueCrypt in portable mode TrueCrypt Portable / Portable TrueCrypt although I have seen some people having problems with using this where users aren't administrators on the machines they are using. Haven't had a chance to play with this myself though... We looked into this and as you said the portable version won't work unless staff have Admin access, which just isn't a viable option.
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