Do you throw your credit card statements in the trash? How about documents that include your phone number, social security number, address, and date of birth? No, you shred the papers first, to make it difficult for others to read.

The same goes for sensitive information stored on a computer. It needs protection. Data encryption means youve essentially shredded it. No one can read it. But luckily with computers, we can unshred our data back to its original state, and then shred it again. We can do this as many times as we like. And unlike paper, your shredded data cant be pieced together, at least not without knowing the proper key or password.

So why does anyone need file encryption software? Information that is private can be embarrassing if released to the public, hence the word private. In addition, losing personal information to the wrong person (stolen laptop) could result in identity theft. Lots of worry, lots of stress, and none of it necessary, should we always choose to protect our sensitive data.

On this site, you'll find articles on encryption software, and comprehensive reviews to help you make an informed decision on which package is right for you. At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don't Have To.

It must be easy to use and provide 100% reliability of data. Below are the criteria TopTenREVIEWS used to evaluate the software:

Ease of Use It should be easy to install, and easy to use. If it is built correctly, the user will rarely need to consult the help file, or look for support on the companys website. This is a true indication that the application was created with the customer in mind.

Data Security It should have the following security features at a minimum: A strong encryption elgorithm (at least 256 bit AES or equivalent), shredding of original files after encryption, 100% reliability of data after encryption/decryption and a password strength meter to insure a strong password.

Feature Set The saying You get what you pay for is quite often true. In many cases, however, the average user probably only needs a few features to fulfill his needs. The more bells and whistles means the more youll pay for that extra unneeded bloat, i.e., do you really need biometric ID verification? At a minimum, when looking for encryption software, the following features should be included: An uncrippled trial version so that you can fully test the program using your configurations, speedy encryption/decryption of files and folders, context menu options - ability to right click on any file folder and encrypt/decrypt and portability can you encrypt/decrypt your files on the go, without needing the main program?

Help and Documentation Encrypting your files and folders neednt be difficult. The internals of the software that convert your data to unintelligible 1s and 0s do all the hard work. Other than that, the interface should give you simple choices to make, and be self explanatory. But sometimes we need help. At a minimum, any software package should have these help options: A built in help file with lots of graphics, easy to read instructions, the ability to search and so on; built-in or online tutorials; a knowledge base or a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page and email support.

So lets not delay any further. Your data needs protecting. And what better way than with Folder Lock.

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TopTenREVIEWS - Encryption Software Review 2014 | Best ...

Microsoft has added encryption safeguards to the Outlook.com webmail service and to the OneDrive cloud storage service, in part to better protect these consumer products from government snoops.

Our goal is to provide even greater protection for data across all the great Microsoft services you use and depend on every day. This effort also helps us reinforce that governments use appropriate legal processes, not technical brute force, if they want access to that data, Matt Thomlinson, vice president, Trustworthy Computing Security, at Microsoft wrote in a blog post.

The move follows similar ones from other cloud computing providers. For example, Google announced end-to-end encryption for Gmail in April, including protection for email messages while they travel among Google data centers. It recently announced similar encryption for its Google Drive cloud storage service.

Its not clear from Microsofts announcement whether the encryption protection it announced covers Outlook.com messages and OneDrive files as they travel within Microsoft data centers. Its also not clear what, if any, encryption OneDrive and Outlook.com have had until now. Microsoft didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cloud computing providers like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and many others have been rattled by disclosures from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden regarding government snooping into online communications, due to the effect on their consumer and business customers.

As a result, these companies have been busy boosting encryption on their systems, while also lobbying the U.S. government to stop the stealthy and widespread monitoring of Internet services.

In December, Microsoft announced it would roll out in the coming 12 months sweeping improvements in encryption across its consumer and enterprise cloud services, including Outlook.com, its Azure platform, Office 365 and other products. Tuesdays announcement is part of that ongoing effort.

Brad Smith, Microsofts general counsel, wrote then that we are especially alarmed by recent allegations in the press of a broader and concerted effort by some governments to circumvent online security measuresand in our view, legal processes and protectionsin order to surreptitiously collect private customer data. In particular, recent press stories have reported allegations of governmental interception and collectionwithout search warrants or legal subpoenasof customer data as it travels between customers and servers or between company data centers in our industry.

Smith went on to say that, if true, the situation threatens to seriously undermine the security and privacy of online communications, turning government snooping into an advanced persistent threat alongside sophisticated malware and cyber attacks.

The company said Tuesday that inbound and outbound mail from Outlook.com is now protected with Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption as it travels to and from Microsoft email systems. A caveat is that if theres another email service provider involved in the exchange it must also have implemented TLS on its end. Microsoft has been working with other large, international email service providers on efforts to get TLS more broadly adopted.

See original here:
Microsoft boosts anti-snooping protection in Outlook.com, OneDrive

Microsoft has pulled back the curtain on its implementation of tougher encryption standards for Web-based email and some cloud services, the company announced Tuesday.

In the works for more than six months, Microsoft has now activated Transport Layer Security encryption (TLS) for its webmail services at Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, Live.com, and MSN.com. This means it will be significantly harder for email originating from and being sent to a Microsoft account to be spied on, as long as the connecting email service also uses TLS.

Matt Thomlinson, vice president of Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing division, said that this work is part of a "comprehensive engineering effort to strengthen encryption."

"This effort also helps us reinforce that governments use appropriate legal processes, not technical brute force, if they want access to that data," he said.

Although Thomlinson didn't specify the origins of this work, Microsoft's heightened encryption efforts follow an October 2013 report that the NSA had been spying on Internet giants in a program called Muscular. The report was based on documents leaked by one-time National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Microsoft's move also comes just a few weeks after a well-publicized Google webmail report that painted Redmond in less than flattering colors. Google scored Microsoft, along with Comcast and Apple, as webmail providers with inadequate levels of encryption to protect their users' email.

Comcast and Microsoft representatives told CNET at the time of Google's report that their companies were in the process of implementing TLS for their webmail services. Apple did not return a request for comment.

Microsoft also has activated Perfect Forward Secrecy encryption (PFS) for its cloud storage service OneDrive. The OneDrive website, OneDrive mobile apps, and OneDrive syncing tools will now all use the tougher PFS encryption standard, which protects user confidentiality even when an third-party is eavesdropping on the network.

Finally, Microsoft has opened a "transparency center" at its headquarters in Redmond, Wash., where governments can review Microsoft source code for "key products" to confirm that no hidden backdoors have been added to the software. Microsoft has not revealed which of its products will be available for review.

Read more here:
Microsoft flips switch on new webmail encryption

6 hours ago Jul. 1, 2014 - 8:09 AM PDT

Microsoftis nowencrypting messages flowing between its own Outlook.com mail service and third-party mail providers using Transport Layer Security, and has also enabledPerfect Forward Security in Outlook.com and OneDrive file storage. Perfect Forward Secrecy usesa different encryption key for each connection, according to a Microsoft Technet blog.

TLS support means that mail flowing into and out of Outlook.com accounts is encrypted and thus better protected as it travels between Microsoft and other email providers, as long as those other email vendorsalso support TLS, wrote Matt Thomlinson, VP of Microsofts trustworthy computing security group.

Microsoft rival Google last month called for other email providerstomake use of Perfect Forward Secrecy technology so that messages areprotected from theirpoint of creation to theirdestination.

Thomlinson also said Microsoft worked withinternational mail providers including Deutsche Telekom, Yandex and Mail.Ru to test and help ensure that mail stays encrypted in transit to and from each email service.

Ever since Edward Snowdens disclosures about the U.S. National Security Agencysnooping on cloud customer data, U.S. cloud providers have been falling all over themselves to prove they are good stewards of customer information.

Microsofts general counsel Brad Smith, who spoke on the topic at Gigaomsrecent Structure Conference, has been in the forefront of that fight.

These companiessayunchecked (and secretive) government data gathering is bad for their businesses and argue that its also bad for the U.S. in general. The NSA disclosures have given non-U.S.-basedcloud providers a powerful marketing tool to argue that German citizens (or companies) should stick to German providers for their cloud computing needs; ditto France, and so on.

NowU.S. tech powers likeMicrosoft, Hewlett-Packard, Google and so on have to showthat they are prepared to fight even fight the U.S. government, if need be to protect customer data.

At Structure, HP EVP Bill Veghtesaid NSA-gate had hurt cloud adoption in China, which is building infrastructure like gangbusters while U.S. vendors have to deal with spying concerns. Its just a bummer, he said.

Read more from the original source:
Encryption race continues as Microsoft bulks up protection for email and file storage

Microsoft announced this morning that it has bolstered the security of several of its digital products, bringing stronger encryption tools to its OneDrive and Outlook.com services.

In the wake of revelations that the United States government was tapping the core fiber cables of the Internet, snooping on traffic between the data centers of large technology companies, and working to weaken encryption, a loose, industry wide effort has been undertaken to build digital dikes to keep prying eyes out of customer data.

As weve noted, this is an interesting moment when user well-being and the profit motive of corporations find common cause: Less government, more privacy. (The cause-effect pull here is mildly tautological, but lets move on.)

According to a blog post that it released this morning, Microsoft has addedTransport Layer Security encryption to Outlook.com, allowing email sent by users of the service to remain encrypted while in transit. Microsoft cited several email providers, includingYandex and Mail.Ru as partners in the effort the receiving email service must supportTransport Layer Security encryption or it doesnt work.

Outlook.com, along with OneDrive also now both sport Perfect Forward Secrecy encryption.

Google, Yahoo, and others have also made strides to tighten their security. Yahoo encrypted information moving between its data centers, and promised an encrypted version of its messaging product. Google has made similar efforts.

All quite reasonable, right? Not to some in our government. Congressman Mike Rogers recently had sharp words for technology companies who are in favor of stronger protections against government surveillance:

While Im on my soapbox, we should bereally madat Google and Facebook and Microsoft, because theyre doing a very interesting, and I think, very dangerous thing. Theyve decided to come out and say we oppose this new FISA bill, because it doesnt go far enough. And when you peel that onion back a bit and say Why are you doing this? This is a good bill, its safe, its bi-partisan, its rational. It meets all the requirements for 4th Amendment protections and privacy protection and allowing the system to work.

And they say, Well, we have to do this because were trying to make sure we dont lose our European business. I dont know about the rest of you but that offends me from the words European business. Think about what theyre doing. Theyre willing to, in their mind, justify the importance of their next quarters earnings in Europe versus the national security of the United States. Everybody on those boards should be embarrassed and their CEOs should be embarrassed and their stockholders should be embarrassed. That one quarter cannot be worth the national security of the United States for the next ten generations.

The bill that Rep. Rogers is riffing on attracted ire. Around half of its co-sponsors voted against the laws final form when it was unceremoniously rammed through the lower chamber of Congress after what Ive heard was strong lobbying from the Executive Branch.

Link:
Microsoft Bolsters Encryption For OneDrive And Outlook.com