TrueCrypt is a free open source on the fly encryption software. (On the fly means that all decryption is done within the memory and no decrypted data is written to the hard drive.) It works for many operating systems, including Windows and Linux (ie: Ubuntu 6.06). TrueCrypt works in two ways. It creates a TrueCrypt encrypted volume on your hard drive, which is basically a file, or it can encrypt entire hard disk partition or USB memory stick, but the latter topic is out of the scope of this guide. (Please refer to wwww.truecrypt.org for more information on how to encrypt an entire hard disk partition.) After TrueCrypt creates the encrypted volume - it can be mounted for anyone to use. No data stored on an encrypted volume can be read (decrypted) without using the correct password.

Everything is encrypted including file names, folder names, contents of every file, free space, meta data, etc. In short, a TrueCrypt volume behaves like a real physical drive. You can imagine yourself moving your sensitive files to that volume( another hard drive). To have access to that volume, you’ll need a password. All the data that resides on the volume is encrypted and no one can read it without the right password.

Download Beginner’s Tutorial for TrueCrypt with Ubuntu 6.06