TrueCrypt 6.1a

The software package TrueCrypt offers easy to use functions for encrypting hard disk partitions, USB drives, and other external storage devices. Once a filesystem is encrypted, TrueCrypt performs the decryption and encryption on-the-fly as files are accessed, without further user intervention. The user can choose from several encryption algorithms.

Encrypting your files is a way to safeguard information that you don't want to be stolen. For example, if somebody steals your laptop computer on a trip, you don't need to worry that private data on it may be used without your permission. Only people who know the password that you used to do the encryption will be able to use the files.

However, as you would expect, encryption slows down reading and writing files, and the initial encryption of your hard drive can take serveral hours. For more information see here.

TrueCrypt is free and open source and can be downloaded here. The latest version includes a graphical user interface (GUI) for Linux users. Step-by-step instructions for how to install TrueCrypt with GUI can be found here.