File Encryption

You Should Encrypt Files Or Folders When You Think It Is Important That They Have The Strongest Protection That Windows Can Provide

It is not always safe to work in public locations such as hotspots at the café, at the airport, at the campus, or anywhere in a public area. Viruses, hackers, spyware, adware, and other threats always threaten our computers. Or even in a corporate environment, if you think that you should completely protect the critical files – the encryption is the answer.

What is encryption?

Encryption is a way to enhance the security of a message or file by scrambling the contents so that it can be read only by someone who has the appropriate encryption key to unscramble it. For example, if you purchase something on the Internet, the information for the transaction (such as your address, phone number, and credit card number) is usually encrypted to help keep it safe. Use encryption when you want a strong level of protection for your information.

You should encrypt files or folders when you think it is important that they have the strongest protection that Windows can provide. Because encrypting files and folders is easy, you might be tempted to encrypt all of your information. You can do that, but there are some things to keep in mind:

• You need to make sure that you back up your encryption certificate and encryption key, and store them in a safe place. If your encryption certificate and key are lost or damaged, you won’t be able to use the files that you have encrypted. For more information, see Back up Encrypting File System (EFS) certificate
• If you encrypt a folder, any files that you create in that folder will be automatically encrypted.
• Other people who want access to files or folders that you encrypt must have their own Encryption File System (EFS) certificate added to the files. With this certificate, they can access the encrypted files or folders when they are working on your computer. If the files are shared, they can access them from another computer running Windows.
• If you copy or move a file to a computer or volume that does not use the NTFS files system, the file will be decrypted.

How to Encrypt or decrypt a folder or file?

Encrypting folders and files is a way to protect them from unwanted access. Encrypting File System (EFS) is a feature of Windows that allows you to store information on your hard disk in an encrypted format. Encryption is the strongest protection that Windows provides to help you keep your information secure.

To encrypt a folder or file

1. Right-click the folder or file you want to encrypt, and then click Properties
2. Click the General tab, and then click Advanced
3. Select the Encrypt contents to secure data check box, and then click OK

Note: The first time you encrypt a folder or file, you should back up your encryption certificate. If your certificate and key are lost or damaged and you do not have a backup, you won’t be able to use the files that you have encrypted.

Back up Encrypting File System (EFS) certificate (Vista)

If you encrypt data on your computer, you need a way to recover that data in case something happens to the encryption key. If your encryption key is lost or damaged and you don’t have a way to recover your data, the data is lost. You will also lose data if you store your encryption key on a smart card and the smart card is damaged or lost. To make sure you can always access your encrypted data, you should back up your encryption certificate and key. If more than one person uses your computer, or if you use a smart card to encrypt files, you should create a file recovery certificate.

To Backup your EFS Certificate

1. Open certificate manager, click Windows button and R button simultaneously and typing certmgr.msc into the Search box, and then pressing ENTER.‌
2. Click the arrow next to the Personal folder to expand it.
3. Click Certificates
4. Click the certificate that lists Encrypting File System under Intended Purposes. (You might need to scroll to the right to see this). If there is more than one EFS certificate, you should back up all of them.
5. Click the Action menu, point to All Tasks, and then click Export.
6. In the Export wizard, click Next, click Yes, export the private key, and then click Next.
7. Click Personal Information Exchange, and then click Next.
8. Type the password you want to use, confirm it, and then click Next.
9. The export process will create a file to store the certificate. Enter a name for the file and the location (include the whole path) or click Browse and navigate to the location, and then enter the file name
10. Click Finish.

To decrypt a folder or file

1. Right-click the folder or file you want to decrypt, and then click Properties
2. Click the General tab, and then click Advanced
3. Clear the Encrypt contents to secure data check box, and then click OK

Recover encrypted files or folders

You can lose access to encrypted files if you install a new operating system or upgrade your current one, or if your current operating system fails. The following steps can help you regain access to encrypted files.

Notes:

These steps can’t be completed on Windows Vista Starter, Windows Vista Home Basic, and Windows Vista Home Premium.

You must have a backup copy of your encryption key and related certificate on a floppy disk or other removable media (such as a USB flash drive) to do the steps below.

1. Do one of the following
   • To recover encrypted files stored on an external hard disk, connect the hard disk to the new computer.
   • To recover encrypted files that are stored on a different partition from your operating system, move the encrypted files to a computer that is working or install a functional operating system on the current computer
   • To open encrypted files stored on a system partition after re-installing the operating system, follow the steps below to re-install your original certificate and key
2. Insert the removable media that your certificate and key are saved on
3. Open certificate manager, click Windows button and R button simultaneously and typing certmgr.msc into the Search box, and then pressing ENTER
4. Click the Personal folder
5. Click the Action menu, point to All Tasks, and then click Import. This opens the Certificate Import wizard
6. Click Next
7. Type the location of the file that contains the certificate, or click Browse and navigate to the file’s location, and then click Next. If you have navigated to the right location but don’t see the certificate you are importing, then, in the list next to the File name box, click Personal Information Exchange.
8. Type the password, select the Mark this key as exportable check box, and then click Next
9. Click Place all certificates in the following store, confirm that the Personal store is indicated, click Next, and then click Finish. After you import the certificate, you should have access to the encrypted files.

Some people think that encryption is something that is complicated, which is as complicated as designing the subnet mask in IP addressing. But if you think that you should protect your critical files securely, encryption is the answer.

Source: Microsoft Corp.

See also:

• Windows XP – a secured guide
• ISA -server – a microsoft firewall
• How to configure a router