Encrypting a Hard Disk

[Supp0rtLinux]

I recently bought a Lexar 16Gb Express Card SSD drive and have Chronosync copying my local Documents folder to it. I would like to encrypt the drive, but don't want to use any third party software (ie: no TrueCrypt). In Disk Utility, I only see options for erasing (formatting) or making encrypted images, but not for encrypting an entire drive. At present, I don't encrypt my main HD as I know Time Machine can't back it up if its encrypted. The problem with an encrypted image is getting it to automount... I can put the 16Gb SSD in, but it won't automatically mount the encrypted image on it. So, is there a way... using only stock, built-in OS X tools, to encrypt a single hard disk, even one that's considered a "removable drive"?

 

[blodwyn]

The encrypted image may not automount, but when the Chronosync sync starts, it will prompt you for the image password and mount it.

I'm also pretty sure you could use a folder action on the Volumes folder to watch for the disk to be mounted and then mount the image via a shell command or automator workflow or applescript. I'm sure there are more ways to mount the image automatically