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Can you password Protect a Flash Drive?

S

Scarabmania

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 22, 2007
2
0
I have bought an Iomega Mini Flash Drive for my MacBookPro.

Is there anyway of password protecting the contents of the flash drive in case I loose it?
 
I'm not sure if this is the easiest option, but you could create an encrypted DMG on the drive and store your files in it. There are also some software options if you Google for password protecting an external drive.
 
If you're only using it with OS X, the best/most straightforward method is to create an AES-128 encrypted disk image on the flash drive using Disk Utility. Then mount the disk image and put the files inside the disk image. Just make sure to always eject -- since the disk image is encrypted, if it is damaged, the whole thing goes kaput!

The other advantages of this include the fact that files inside the disk image have a POSIX environment, since the disk image has permissions and ownership like OS X does.
 
If you go into 'Get Info' for the disc icon, you can set permissions to deny anybody else access to that volume. However for that to work, you'll need to log in and out of your computer.
 
If you use an encrypted DMG, you can have a text file with your contact info outside of the encrypted portion. This file can be read by anybody, so that they might be able to return it to you. In case you have some stuff on it without a backup...
 
Fuzzy14 said:
If you go into 'Get Info' for the disc icon, you can set permissions to deny anybody else access to that volume. However for that to work, you'll need to log in and out of your computer.
Click to expand...
Anybody that has an admin account on any Mac can overcome that with a couple clicks.
 
I just envisioned a 10 pound kryptonite bike lock with a 20 gram flash drive
LOL

the zip file is a pain in the ace.
I am looking to have something that once I plug it in it requires a password.

does true crypt do that?
 
matteusclement said:
I am looking to have something that once I plug it in it requires a password.

does true crypt do that?
Click to expand...

It can encrypt the entire flash drive, so it will be unusable until you mount it with TrueCrypt. You won't be prompted automatically. It's free so just give it a go and see how it works.
 
matteusclement said:
sushi, I would like the same, but have a feeling we are asking too much of microsoft to play nice.... again.
Click to expand...

angelwatt said:
TrueCrypt
Click to expand...

Since this thread has been necro'd anyways... this is your good option. The major limitation, AFAIK, is that Truecrypt has to be installed on all host computers, but otherwise it's excellent for this kind of thing, and it is now available across the three majors.
 
The Flash Drive with Password & Encryption Mac Users Have Been Waiting For!

AT LAST!!

Kingston's DataTraveler DTVP Vault Privacy Edition flash drives work great with Mac OSX 10.4x and 10.5x. Make sure you're getting a DTVP drive; Kingston's DTV drives are not Mac compatible. The password protection is robust, as is the encryption, which uses 256-bit AES. On top of all this the drives are waterproof (to four feet), made of industrial-grade aluminum, and are fast as hell (on-the-fly encryption). For a User Manual, check out:
http://www.kingston.com/support/USBFLASHDRIVES/PDF/DTVaultPrivacyUsersManual_B04.pdf

By the way, the drives are 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. The drives have been expensive, ever since their May 2009 release, but prices are dramatically dropping now (I picked up an 8GB DTVP for $90).
 
river0 said:
AT LAST!!

Kingston's DataTraveler DTVP Vault Privacy Edition flash drives work great with Mac OSX 10.4x and 10.5x. Make sure you're getting a DTVP drive; Kingston's DTV drives are not Mac compatible. The password protection is robust, as is the encryption, which uses 256-bit AES. On top of all this the drives are waterproof (to four feet), made of industrial-grade aluminum, and are fast as hell (on-the-fly encryption). For a User Manual, check out:
http://www.kingston.com/support/USBFLASHDRIVES/PDF/DTVaultPrivacyUsersManual_B04.pdf

By the way, the drives are 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. The drives have been expensive, ever since their May 2009 release, but prices are dramatically dropping now (I picked up an 8GB DTVP for $90).
Click to expand...

That's great if you NEED enterprise level security. Personally, I'd use a password-protected zip file. As long as you make sure your password is something nice and long (the longer the better) I'd should be nice and safe. Mind you, Someone with access to the university super-computer could easily brute force a shorter password.
 
mkrishnan said:
If you're only using it with OS X, the best/most straightforward method is to create an AES-128 encrypted disk image on the flash drive using Disk Utility. Then mount the disk image and put the files inside the disk image. Just make sure to always eject -- since the disk image is encrypted, if it is damaged, the whole thing goes kaput!

The other advantages of this include the fact that files inside the disk image have a POSIX environment, since the disk image has permissions and ownership like OS X does.
Click to expand...

I've tried this, but when creating the image I get an error message that says cannot create the image because the file [name of image.dmg] does not exist! Well, of course it doesn't...
 
river0 said:
AT LAST!!

Kingston's DataTraveler DTVP Vault Privacy Edition flash drives work great with Mac OSX 10.4x and 10.5x. Make sure you're getting a DTVP drive; Kingston's DTV drives are not Mac compatible. The password protection is robust, as is the encryption, which uses 256-bit AES. On top of all this the drives are waterproof (to four feet), made of industrial-grade aluminum, and are fast as hell (on-the-fly encryption). For a User Manual, check out:
http://www.kingston.com/support/USBFLASHDRIVES/PDF/DTVaultPrivacyUsersManual_B04.pdf

By the way, the drives are 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. The drives have been expensive, ever since their May 2009 release, but prices are dramatically dropping now (I picked up an 8GB DTVP for $90).
Click to expand...

Couldn't an owner of one of these drives make an image of it and post it on rapidshare or something so if you restored a drive to it it would be password protected?
 
mkrishnan said:
Since this thread has been necro'd anyways... this is your good option. The major limitation, AFAIK, is that Truecrypt has to be installed on all host computers, but otherwise it's excellent for this kind of thing, and it is now available across the three majors.
Click to expand...

You can keep TrueCrypt on the flash drive and run it off that.
 
Truecrypt a bust on support forum and MacBook Pro

I used Truecrypt very successfully in my pre-Mac days. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with my MacBook Pro 10.6.4 - the flash drive is always busy so it won't mount the encrypted partition file. This problem with a Mac is not shown on their support site. I pay for email with fastmail.fm, since there were too many security problems with free email, but the Truecrypt folks think it is free mail, so I cannot post to their forum to find a fix (they rightly spurn the use of free email due to the security problems). I don't think they take Mac seriously. They don't read or act on individual emails since they receive too many. Another Mac user screwed again. I need the capability of reading the drive on a Windows machine as well as my Mac. I'd pay $50 for a solution. How does the zip thing work?
 
The Flash Drive with Password & Encryption Mac Users Have Been Waiting For!
AT LAST!!

Kingston's DataTraveler DTVP Vault Privacy Edition flash drives work great with Mac OSX 10.4x and 10.5x. Make sure you're getting a DTVP drive; Kingston's DTV drives are not Mac compatible. The password protection is robust, as is the encryption, which uses 256-bit AES. On top of all this the drives are waterproof (to four feet), made of industrial-grade aluminum, and are fast as hell (on-the-fly encryption). For a User Manual, check out:
http://www.kingston.com/support/USBF...Manual_B04.pdf

By the way, the drives are 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. The drives have been expensive, ever since their May 2009 release, but prices are dramatically dropping now (I picked up an 8GB DTVP for $90).


Soooo you created the original post to query for help, and then replied with another newbie account with a "great" solution for a "premium". I like your business strategy!
 
jeffrycalhoun said:
I used Truecrypt very successfully in my pre-Mac days. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with my MacBook Pro 10.6.4 - the flash drive is always busy so it won't mount the encrypted partition file. This problem with a Mac is not shown on their support site. I pay for email with fastmail.fm, since there were too many security problems with free email, but the Truecrypt folks think it is free mail, so I cannot post to their forum to find a fix (they rightly spurn the use of free email due to the security problems). I don't think they take Mac seriously. They don't read or act on individual emails since they receive too many. Another Mac user screwed again. I need the capability of reading the drive on a Windows machine as well as my Mac. I'd pay $50 for a solution. How does the zip thing work?
Click to expand...

I haven't had any of those issues. I use TrueCrypt daily on my Mac at home and Windows machine at work, for the same TrueCrypt file. Sounds like your flash drive may be having issues.
 
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