Batch file-level encryption

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webfork
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Batch file-level encryption

#1 Post by webfork »

There was an article over at Ghacks noting that randsomware used to merely encrypt files and offering the key for a price. Now attackers are downloading some or all of your files and threatening to post them online.

This has brought back something I used to think was mostly for the high security or paranoid types: file-level encryption. That is individual files password protected so if they are grabbed, they can't be used. This does create additional annoyance to type in a good password everytime you open a file

Password nags

You can use a password manager like Password Safe or LastPass or something simpler like Ditto with the password pinned to the top of the menu results.

I have this setup on my machine for adding a portablefreeware.com screenshot note, but that could just as easily be a frequently-used password:

Image

Options by format

PDF Formats - Since many files that are really crucial like tax documents are already in PDF format, it's fortunate there's a free option for adding passwords to that format that's portable and works on any number of files: UnityPDF. 4dots also has a program that handles this (untested).

Image formats - There's also a post I did last month about creating protected image archives via the excellent GonVisor.

Office formats - Maybe the biggest missing piece here is crucially is the option for batch-encoding Office files like DOCX and ODT. I've found some posts about vague macro processes in digging, but no clear options. It is possible to speed up the process on individual files via a keyword macro (press CTRL+SHIFT+S, press tab a few times, press spacebar, etc.) but that's not really a solution.

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Anyway, I'll try to leave this thread open to post about other tools and formats to cover, but feedback welcome.


See also:

* Blocking writes by program
* CryptoPrevent

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