Several posters have reference encryption on a USB drive. My recently purchased SanDisk Cruzer includes a bundled (free) version of CruzerLock software for encryption licensed from encryptX. It's a proprietary bit of software with a simple password and easy to use. Perhaps not as secure as a PGP solution (or maybe it is, there's not much technical data provided), but it's simple enough for those intimidated by a more technical solution.

Anyone have any experience with this software?

Willie, I think what you're using makes one big packet of all the data and folders and actually encrypts or locks the USB device. That isn't what I'm using. I use

http://www.kryptel.com/products/skey/?from=sk

Each file is encrypted, with a "decryption" program front-end so the recepient does not have to have any particular software to decrypt... just the password. IMHO this is not as platform-dependent as other methods.

The main thing you want to think about is decrypting your data if needed. Can you download the decryption software on a friends pc? When you find out the survivor check in station is at a school and they only have mac's can you decrypt the data? Or you bug out to the grandparents and the only pc is a P100 running windows 95 (no USB).
Just a few things to think about.

"The main thing you want to think about is decrypting your data if needed. Can you download the decryption software on a friends pc? When you find out the survivor check in station is at a school and they only have mac's can you decrypt the data? Or you bug out to the grandparents and the only pc is a P100 running windows 95 (no USB)."

That is why I am really surprised not to have ever seen a laptop on the BOB lists on this forum. It seems to me to be a pretty crucial piece of hardware. At least as important as a GPS.

Vendor supplied encryption programs tend to be not very secure. For something like this, assuming the security is to protect against random crooks rather than against (say) the FBI, moderate security might be ok.

If you're willing to trust moderate security, I'd probably just use password protected zip files with (if you're using wndows) winzip 9.0 or later, if I have it right (the earlier password system was much less secure).

If you want higher security, use PGP/GPG. Include a copy of the program (unencrypted) on the USB key itself, preferably a DOS command line version (that will run on just about any PC). You might even include an image of a bootable MSDOS floppy disc that includes command line PGP. If you have any way to read the USB drive, you can probably find a PC somewhere that can boot the floppy.

Keep in mind that the PC you use it on might not be secure. For example, if you use a PC in a government operated shelter, it might be recording all your keystrokes including your passphrase. Again, depending on the type of content on the USB drive, that might or might not bother you.

My laptop isn't part of my bob but it will go with me if I would ever need to bug out. I carry it to work and back since work is only using lotus notes we don't have any kind of reliable calendar system so my laptop is basically my pda/pim/planner. I made sure buy a small lightweight business model so it would be easy to carry and last a good long time.

You still run into the issue of that decryption program only being able to run on a pc. I went to a client site once and it was a small school that only had Mac's and one windows server that was down and I needed to extract a raid controller driver which was in a self extracting zip, luckily I had my own laptop so I could extract this zip file since none of their systems could.

One thing I found was I do not have Administrative access on the computer I use at work and I cannot install a program. I can access my USB drive but not the security software on it. I have since found that most "public" access computers are set up the same. I have gone to password protecting the files rather than taking the chance of not being able to decrypt. Not as secure but if I can't get the data when I need it there is not much use carrying it.

You could include a macintosh version of the decryption program if you wanted. They're downloadable from the same types of places as the pc programs.

Hi, this is my first post, so hopefully this makes some sense.

A great encryption program is truecrypt. Available at http://www.truecrypt.org it is open source, it is free and runs on window and linux. Here are some of it's features.

Main Features:
* Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.
* Encrypts an entire hard disk partition or a device, such as USB flash drive.
* Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.
* Provides two levels of plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password:
1) Hidden volume (steganography)
2) No TrueCrypt volume can be identified (volumes cannot be distinguished from random data).
* Encryption algorithms: AES-256, Blowfish (448-bit key), CAST5, Serpent, Triple DES, and Twofish.
Mode of operation: LRW (CBC supported as legacy).
* Based on Encryption for the Masses (E4M) 2.02a, conceived in 1997.

On my usb drive I created a standard volume within a file that uses about half of the drive, this leaves room for emergency contact information/medical information that I would want someone to see if I were in an accident. It can be run directly from the usb drive and does not leave behind any traces on the PC. As long as you have a strong pass phrase, decrypting the volume would be very difficult if not impossible.

I also use another open source piece of software called keypass, a password manager available at http://keepass.sourceforge.net . I use this to store all of my passwords, It can also be run directly of of the USB drive without anything being written to on the client PC. It is also highly encrypted and is as secure as your pass phrase.

If you want to be extremely secure/paranoid with your pass phrases. You can get cryptographic-strength random password strings from http://www.grc.com/password. Just copy the number of characters you need/want your passord to be (the longer the better) and save them in keepass. I use full 63 character "passwords" for my more secure files. It can be a hastle, but security always is.

Mostly I just want to make sure that if someone were to find/take my usb drive they will have one of two options. Contact me with the emergency contact intormation on the drive and return it, or realize that there is nothing "good" on it for them and reformat it to use as their own.

There are also some other great open source programs out there like portable openoffice and portable firefox.

If I was unclear about anything, let me know.