This post is a continuation of my previous post about Truecrypt. If you want to create a secure and encrypted volume on your local hard drive, this post is about creating that volume. As of this moment, the version I'm using is Truecrypt 7.1a. If you have something later, usually the user interface shouldn't differ much unless the developer revamps the whole UI.
01. Click on Volumes and then Create New Volume...
02. As an example, I'll create an encrypted file container. For advanced user, you can encrypt the whole partition or drive making it a super secure container but at a cost of mobility (a friend of mine tried it and apparently he cannot find a way to move this partition to a thumb drive - DUH!).
03. Here comes the interesting part about Truecrypt. They basically offer you a standard container or two-volume container that contains a hidden volume. The best thing about using the second option is that if you're in a high risk operation and are in constant danger, you could create a dummy volume and when being interrogated, you give out the dummy password. The dummy password would still work and it'll open a different part of the partition. Paranoid Android: Make sure to put in your 'files' and 'folders' to disguise them like the real thing you're trying to cover up.
04. Click on Select Files and place where your file is going to be.
05. This is also another feature I liked about Truecrypt. Although they have their de-facto standard ".TC"extension, you can basically use any extension. In this example, I opt not to use any extension at all. Paranoid Android: You could use ZIP. If you drop a Truecrypt encrypted files into any Zip software, chances are they will tell you that it's corrupted and there is no way to conclude that the file is originally a Zip file. Alternatively, you could use TMP file and drop it on Windows temp directory and no one's the wiser (Paranoid Android: be careful of cleaning software that will clean up TMP files!).
06. We have come to the encryption option.
07. I'm not a hardcore encryption expert, but if you want any explanation, you have to Google them up. If logic serves me right, I rather choose a triple encryption (Paranoid Android: Although sometimes that might be the case). For an example in this post, I'll choose AES-Twofish-Serpent.
08. Choose the size that you would want to create. For the sake of this post, I'll go with 10 MB. After specifying the size, the program would immediately create the encrypted file with that size. Just be careful of the amount of free space that you still have on your hard drive!
09. You need to use a password. However, instead of using a password you could use a keyfile. Basically a keyfile is a system whereby Truecrypt uses a file as a cypher key instead of a password. Paranoid Android: Don't forget, you can combine both password and keyfiles together! (Keyfiles as in multiple files). A true paranoid geek might put his encrypted volume in a thumb drive and put the keyfiles in a separate thumb drive. Also, disguise your keyfiles as part of the filing system such as a bunch of word files or album pictures.
Do take note that these keyfiles are real and usable files. For example if you can use a working JPG or PDF file as a keyfile.
10. The system also generates its internal cypher. Therefore, move your mouse and type in something on another window to gather as much random numbers as possible.
11. Basically you're done.
Now that you learn how to create a volume, I'm going to continue in the next series to show you how to mount the encrypted file into a drive.
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