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with all the things about our lives that we've laid bare on our hard drives many of us have done a woefully bad job of protecting the things that are for our eyes only I mean sure you can put a password on your computer but windows passwords are notoriously easy to get around and if you share a PC with family members co-workers or roommates there is often very little to keep them from rifling through your private files so what's the security conscious user to do there are actually hardware level whole Drive encryption solutions but these are mostly designed to keep an attacker from getting into your data when switching the computer on or from just physically ripping out your drive and walking away with it once you log into the OS the entire drive is decrypted meaning that sharing a computer with someone are just walking away from it while it's turned on becomes a big security risk this is where the ability to encrypt individual files and directories can really help and possibly the most straightforward way to do this is with file system level encryption on Windows this takes the form of a baked in technology on creatively called encrypting file system or EFS which works with NTFS the main file system used by modern Windows versions for the desktop here's how it works EFS allows you to encrypt a file or directory simply by checking a box on its properties window once you click OK it uses standard public key cryptography which you can learn more about here to encrypt the file or folder with a generated key called an SDK miss key itself Ben is encrypted as well with a public key unique to that particular user and finally the encrypted fdk is stored in the files header when the user wants to go back and access it later it's decrypted with the users private key and this is all done seamlessly and transparently so you won't be continuously prompted for keys or passwords as long as you're logged in under the account the encryption is tied to the nice thing about this paradigm as opposed to whole Drive encryption is that it's much more difficult for other users logged in under their own accounts to peek at your files but before you go rushing off to encrypt all the embarrassing stuff you've filled your drive with over the years remember that EFS does not obviate the need for a strong Windows account password a weak password not only makes it easier for an attacker to log in to your account but it also weakens the encryption on the files themselves as the cryptographic keys that Windows generates to do the actual encrypting are based on your password so make sure you pick a strong password as we discussed in this video but if you don't feel like having all your data available after login is secure enough and you want another layer that asks for some kind of verification when you try to access a file or folder you might want to consider various third-party encryption tools although these usually aren't as seamless or sexy as file system level encryption they might provide you with a bit more peace of mind as they aren't tied to your login and can offer more options such as stronger encryption algorithms or the ability to create things like hidden virtual drives to make it exceptionally difficult for snoops to uncover your secrets but whichever method you choose to secure your individual files the most robust solution is to combine it with hardware based whole disk encryption to frustrate multiple kinds of attacks after all think about the humiliation you could suffer if someone found those sappy letters to your ex that you forgot to delete additionally if you're looking to take your sappy letters to your ex with you on the road how about an encrypted USB flash drive to checked it from prying eyes the Kingston encrypted USB flash drive provides high-level security with 256 bit AES hardware-based encryption USB 3 support means you don't have to compromise on transfer speeds for top-notch security and for additional peace of mind the drive locks down and reformats itself after 10 intrusion attempts you can also upgrade your drive with built-in antivirus protection and remote management features and if you're curious about the other secure USB options that Kingston has they have encrypted USB drives for all levels of security from entry late entry late that's a mix between level and grade entry level all the way up to government and military grade construction and certification so check them out at the link in the video description so thanks for watching guys like dislike check out our other channels comment with video suggestions and subscribe subscribe dance that ever do dance move I have not