Encrypt/secure files on external HDD?

ID10 mulambo  September 2, 2024

Comments:

Malneb said:
I think the point would be that the contents are clearly intended for a third party but not all third parties. it means that if the drive got lost or onto the hands of someone else unintended then there is a fail safe in place.

I would just use Bitlocker on the drive set with a password.

That doesn't solve the contents from being copied, even knowing the password. The password itself is no use, I just want basically to make the entire drive "read only" and I mean truely read-only (no way to copy files or the drive).

I realize that it is impossible so, I'll just give up I guess.

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Malneb said:
I think the point would be that the contents are clearly intended for a third party but not all third parties. it means that if the drive got lost or onto the hands of someone else unintended then there is a fail safe in place.

I would just use Bitlocker on the drive set with a password.

That doesn't solve the contents from being copied, even knowing the password. The password itself is no use, I just want basically to make the entire drive "read only" and I mean truely read-only (no way to copy files or the drive).

I realize that it is impossible so, I'll just give up I guess.

Well, not truely impossible, I mean... it would mean inventing my own hard drive with my own filesystem, accessible through my own software. But that's just a dream so it is possible, only in dreams, lol.

What? bitlocker is AES 256 encryption capable and means you cannot read the contents unless you know the key.


mulambo said:
Hello, I would like to know how to completely secure/lock or encrypt files into an external HDD.

Basically I want those files to be read-only, uncopiable, uneditable, etc. and of course I want to the external HDD to be uncopiable as well (not formatable, or copiable/clonable on another blank or formated HDD).


Is that possible to achieve with any program or combination of them?
I think you are confused then tbh. You are literally asking about encryption in the OP and bitlocker is just that, use it.

Malneb said:
I think you are confused then tbh. You are literally asking about encryption in the OP and bitlocker is just that, use it.

He isn't exactly trying to control who can access it but what can be done once it's accessed. Hard drive encryption wouldn't stop them from copying the files to another drive once they have his drive and his password. It would only keep them from accessing the files but he doesn't want that. He wants to allow access but prevent them from reusing his files.

Using windows permissions you can provide read only access but that only applies to a system under your control and doesn't prevent them copying the files to another volume anyway. This is application based protections so it would have to be built into the application that you're using. For example pdfs can be protected so that the files are read only but that's built into the application and not windows. I'm afraid that this is beyond us. You should try a forum specializing in the applications that you are using. If they have such protections that would be more affective than what computer systems provide. The only thing that I know that you could do would be to have some kind of meeting (be it in person or virtual like zoom or webex), you pull up the files on your system and let them inspect them. You control the situation and when you are gone they lose access.

Consider this, do you really want to work for an employer that would do the kind of back stabbing that you're trying to prevent? You wouldn't ever feel like you could trust them.

townsbg said:
He isn't exactly trying to control who can access it but what can be done once it's accessed. Hard drive encryption wouldn't stop them from copying the files to another drive once they have his drive and his password. It would only keep them from accessing the files but he doesn't want that. He wants to allow access but prevent them from reusing his files.

Using windows permissions you can provide read only access but that only applies to a system under your control and doesn't prevent them copying the files to another volume anyway. This is application based protections so it would have to be built into the application that you're using. For example pdfs can be protected so that the files are read only but that's built into the application and not windows. I'm afraid that this is beyond us. You should try a forum specializing in the applications that you are using. If they have such protections that would be more affective than what computer systems provide. The only thing that I know that you could do would be to have some kind of meeting (be it in person or virtual like zoom or webex), you pull up the files on your system and let them inspect them. You control the situation and when you are gone they lose access.

Consider this, do you really want to work for an employer that would do the kind of back stabbing that you're trying to prevent? You wouldn't ever feel like you could trust them.

Anything goes, you know. If not the boss, somebody else (data theft, unloyal employees, whatever). I just wanted to reduce risks to the bare minimum and also give the time to check all the files when he wants and for all the time he wants. So the idea was to hand the drive over and take it back after (and this is already some kind of trust I'm giving).

OK i did skim over the thread initially because i was busy at the time, I see what you are trying to achieve now. There is no real way i can think of to achieve what you are wanting. There was a program called securom that is now defunct.

Depending on the Data type then you could look at authoring that data in a way that makes it non editable. Eg like taking a photo of documents instead of sending the actual documents. PDF are also another option that until more recent times was usually used as it was harder to edit,
eg i would send for example a resume as PDF because it means the person has to intentionally try to edit that format and also a bonus of that format means it can open in any browser so it makes accessibility easier to the recipient. You can take this sort of logic and apply it to other data. Many generic users would not even know you can edit a PDF for example.

You can also use in some cases encrypted rar files so that they person can view the data but cannot edit it because you never gave them the key.

It all depends on the data at this point Just look at the Data you have and see if there is ways to present that data in other forms which allow in a way to make them non editable.

If we are talking about gb or tb of data then ditto you are out of luck. I think also if you are sharing data with someone then you are also giving that right away, at that point the question asks why are you so concerned about them not editing anything?

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