Though Apple provides various inbuilt features for data encryption that come on board with the OS X, there are some security threats that can only be handled by third party mac file encryption apps. Here are a few simple and effective ways to encrypt files on your Mac.
Disk Utility Encryption
Use Apple’s Disk Utility feature to encrypt files on your Mac. You first need to create a “DMG” or a “Disk Image” file that can be used like a container to store other files. This container can be locked to safeguard its content. DMG uses a solid “AES-256” type encryption. This is how you do it.
--Go to ‘Finder’ and launch Disk Utility
--Go to File > New > Disk Image Folder
--Select the folder you want to encrypt > Image
--Choose the encryption method to AES-256
--The OS will give you a password prompt, chose a healthy password. You’re now encrypted.
FileVault Encryption
FileVault is another encryption software from Apple. It uses XTS-AES-128 encryption with a 256-bit key to secure Mac from unauthorized access. To encrypt files on your Mac using the FileVault encryption tool follow these steps.
--Go to apple menu>system preferences
--Go to security and privacy
--Select filevault
--Click the lock and select “turn on filevault”
--You’ll be prompted to choose a way for recovery in the case of a lost password.
--Choose your preferred method and click on continue
--Restart your mac and the encryption process will begin.
Third Party Mac Data Encryption App
Encryption can be a tedious job with many nuances. There are many third party apps which make encryption swift and easy. There are many websites that offer various third party encrypting apps such as ‘iDoctor’. These files can easily be downloaded, however, if you have trouble downloading the file or running the setup, the websites provide user manuals that explain the process of downloading and running encryption software for Mac. Once downloaded, encrypting the files is a simple step by step procedure.
Conclusion
Data encryption is a basic prerequisite for preventing misuse of your private and sensitive data. Data encryption is essential for encrypting system data, external drives, backup, distributed files or documents. There are several types of encryption techniques that you can choose from, varying from Apple’s inbuilt encryption options to third party utility tools.
