Windows Tools, Help & Guides

The unveiling of U.S. data monitoring worries many these days. But even if you are facing the most advanced form of modern computer espionage, there are always ways to keep other eyes away from your data communications. Even if you’re not concerned about what the U.S Government might see you do, there are times or certain information you might want to keep protected.

These days with the extended Internet availability on Computers, Laptops, Tablets, smart-phones etc. your documents and private information is easily at hand all the time. If you are concerned about security you would want to make sure everything you upload to the cloud is secure. But how do you go about that, without sacrificing your day-to-day work?

Introducing CloudFogger

I recently came across a tool that let you encrypt all data before it’s uploaded to your DropBox, SkyDrive or Google Drive. The system is very versatile and easy to use. Simply install it on your device (Laptop, tables, phone …) and let CloudFogger take care of everything else.

CloudFogger encrypt your document when you add it to one of the watched folders. Cloudfogger uses transparent encryption, which makes daily use fast and simple: On the local system you still access your data as you always did – while all files are securely encrypted when they get uploaded to the cloud.

One thing I find very useful is the ability to protect only selected folders. This enables you to only encrypt certain files while you may keep unimportant things untouched. Having set up which folders to protect, be aware that Cloudfogger will not encrypt documents already uploaded to your cloud service. In my opinion it should at least offer to do that (maybe I didn’t find out how?). As it is now – you have to delete everything you’ve already uploaded, and copy it back into the watched folders as “new files” in order for CloudFogger to start encrypting.

Using it across platforms is very simple too. You connect your device to the same CloudFogger account and that’s about it – you can then access your files as you’ve always been able to. Remember to secure your device with a lock screen password to avoid others snooping around.

Context Menu

During installation the program opt to be installed in the Context Menu. By doing this, you may also use CloudFogger to encrypt files locally in any folder (even the ones not connected to a cloud service). These files will need to be decoded before use.

Sharing files from your Cloud

Encrypted files and protected folders can be shared easily and securely with others without providing them your Cloudfogger credentials. This allows for a secure usage of a shared cloud folder. Simply add your friends email in CloudFogger and they will be able to decrypt files you share with them using their own CloudFogger credentials. This means you don’t hand over any keys or passwords ever.

Verdict

If you’re looking for a simple tool to secure your online data – but you have no expertise knowledge on how to go about it. Or if you want a hassle-free solution to secure your data without sacrificing your day-to-day work – CloudFogger should really be your tool of choice. Let’s just hope that they will offer to encrypt your existing files as well.

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