Free Utilities to Password Protect Your USB Drive

We already analyzed the different options to protect the data of USB drive or pen-drive. These were mostly manual methods, but we now examine the different alternatives with software. Protection of data is always one of the crucial issues of cyber world. With help of proper encryption of method we can protect the data from stealing. "Encryption" is the process of scrambling data using a kind of code known only to the software doing the coding, so that anyone accessing the private data is unable to read it.

1. Comodo Disk Encryption

Comodo Disk Encryption protects sensitive information by enabling encryption of any drive on the system.  The panel in the interface allows you to encrypt or decrypt a USB drive just through a click over it.

Features

• Keep data totally protected from hackers, thieves, and all unauthorized viewing
• You don't want private data to be accessed when you're away from your computer
• If your desktop or laptop is stolen, the thieves will not have access to personal data
• Share your computer with other people knowing that they can't view your personal files
• To be the only person that is able to start a specific computer

Download Comodo Disk Encryption

2. USB Safeguard

USB Safeguard is a portable software program to encrypt and protect data with a password on your removable pen drive using the AES 256 bits encryption. Protect the pen drive with a password! USB Safeguard offers users a friendly yet extremely powerful security solution.

Features

• Runs with any usb pen drive
• No installation required
• Easy drag & drop file adding
• Built in file shredder
• Secure your data if drive is lost

Limitations (for free version)

• Works only with USB Flash drive of max 2 GB!

Download SafeGuard

3. TrueCrypt

TrueCrypt is free open-source disk ecryption software for windows7/Vista/Xp, Mac OS X, and Linux. Files can be copied to and from a mounted TrueCrypt volume just like they are copied to/from any normal disk (i.e. drag n drop).

Features

• Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.
• Encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive.
• Encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).
• Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.
• Parallelization and pipelining allow data to be read and written as fast as if the drive was not encrypted.
• Encryption can be hardware-accelerated on modern processors.
• Provides plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password:
• Hidden volume (steganography) and hidden operating system. 

Download TrueCrypt