In recent years, cloud services such as Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive have become popular. These services allow the synchronization of files and folders that we can use to free up space on our hard drive or make backup copies, with the advantage of being able to access them from anywhere. So that we can dispose of our files safely, we are going to talk about different methods to encrypt our files to later upload them to our preferred cloud service.
And it is that security and privacy is one of the biggest concerns we have when we decide to upload our files and folders to a cloud. Well, although platforms have quite a few security measures, the truth is that they are not exempt from being attacked and hacked, putting our files and our privacy at risk. Likewise, we will always have the doubt whether from within the same company anyone can have access to these files. That is why it never hurts to use a file encryption program to be able to upload them to the cloud safely and privately.
Programs to encrypt files before uploading them to the cloud
Cryptomator, the most popular
It is one of the most popular applications to encrypt data, which is characterized by being open source and free. With this program we will be able to create so-called vaults where we can safely store our files, as they will not be accessible if we do not have the unlock code. In this way we can create our vault in the account of our cloud service that we have on the computer. Cryptomator uses an encryption that is based on the AES 256 protocol that protects it from unwanted access attempts. Despite its benefits, it is not a perfect application, since it does not allow you to hide files and it also takes up too much memory space, so it can be a burden for not very powerful computers.
We can download Cryptomator for free from its website .
Boxcryptor, great compatibility with cloud services
Another good application with which to encrypt or encrypt each of the files that we are going to add to our cloud. It has AES 256 certificate with RSA-4096 encryption security so that our files are safe. It stands out for having a seamless workflow through integration with Windows Explorer, being able to automatically detect the cloud storage providers that we have, since it has support for more than 30 cloud storage service providers . Its main disadvantage is that, despite being free for private use, it can only be used on two devices (for example, a computer and a mobile phone), nor does it allow the use of different services simultaneously.
Boxcryptor is free for non-commercial use and is compatible with Windows, Linux, mac OS, and Android and iOS mobile devices. You can download it from the developer’s website .
nCrypted Cloud, file encryption and additional features
This file encryption application offers compatibility with major cloud storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, and Egnyte. This tool has a 256-bit AES security certificate to ensure the safety of all files and folders. Both to encrypt and decrypt the files we must do it manually since it does not allow doing it by default, this being its main handicap. In addition to file encryption, it also allows us to add functions such as watermarks or the possibility of sharing private files.
nCrypted Cloud is a free application for private use, compatible with Windows and mac OS operating systems, as well as Android and iOS mobiles. You can download it from this link .
Sookasa, full integration with Dropbox and Google Drive
Another simple application with which you can perform file encryption before synchronizing it with the cloud. The tool is compatible with cloud storage services such as Dropbox and Google Drive . The application creates a special folder that is synchronized with these cloud services and all the files that are placed inside are encrypted using AES 256-bit . It has cross-platform support so it is compatible with Windows, mac OS and mobile devices with Android and iOS. It does not contain device limitations nor does it limit the use of files. Its main drawback is that when used via mobile, it does not allow writing to encrypted directories and is only compatible with these two cloud services.
Sookasa is a commercial application that is priced at $ 10 per month. It allows the download of a free trial version from its website.
Odrive, sync and unify files in Dropbox and Google Drive
This powerful web-based desktop tool allows us to link all of our cloud storage accounts by placing an encrypted folder in each location. Once placed, all files are automatically encrypted in the cloud (not on our hard drive) using a SHA256 certificate . In addition, it has synchronization and sharing functions between Google Drive and Dropbox accounts. Its main disadvantage is that it only works with online accounts , so it does not download the files to the PC so that we can access them without an Internet connection.
Onedrive is a free, cross-platform application that is available for Windows, mac OS, and Linux. You can download it from its official website.
Other file encryption programs
AES Crypt, simple and very secure
This application to encrypt files is one of the simplest that we can find since it does not need great knowledge or settings to carry out its work. It has AES 256 encryption which guarantees the security of all the files that we encrypt with it. The application is integrated into the contextual menu of the system so that we can encrypt any file quickly and without complications. Its main drawback is its ability to handle a single file at a time . That is why, if we need to encrypt a complete directory with all its content, we must first compress it, before beginning its encryption.
AES Crypt is a totally free, cross-platform and open source tool that we can download from its official website .
VeraCrypt, focused on the most experts
We are facing a free and open source application compatible with any cloud storage service, so we can encrypt any file and then upload it to our storage service. It is a powerful application that allows you to encrypt USB memory sticks and hard drives . This software has the ability to encrypt on the fly, which means that files are automatically encrypted when they are written to the drive. Its main drawback is that it is not an application that is aimed at occasional users since a good knowledge of the computer is needed.
To start using VeraCrypt for free, you just have to download it from here .
EncFS, with TRIM support to improve performance with SSDs
It is free software under the GPL license that allows us to encrypt the file system to protect our privacy, especially if we store our confidential data in cloud services such as Dropbox or Google Drive. It is cross-platform, so we can access it from Windows, mac OS, Linux and mobile devices with iOS and Android. This application allows you to create new encrypted folders, edit them, export them and change the password of existing folders. It also has another great advantage, and that is that it supports TRIM to improve performance on SSD disks. Its main disadvantage is that the encrypted file system must have the same file system as the source directory, not allowing mixing of file systems. The Windows version is in beta.
You can download EncFS completely free from its official website .
AxCrypt, simple and with integration with Windows Explorer
Simple tools are the most appreciated by many users and AxCrypt is too. It has full integration with Windows Explorer which allows it to be the most practical and fastest way to protect our files individually before uploading them to the cloud. The application is compatible with Windows and mac OS, as well as with Android and iOS mobiles. To keep our files securely, it has 128-bit AES encryption algorithm. Its main disadvantage compared to other applications is that it only allows the encryption of files individually, so if we need to encrypt several files, it will be necessary to compress them previously.
We can download AxCrypt for free from its website. Although, if we want to have improvements we can opt for its Premium version that has a cost of 3.63 euros per month.
DiskCryptor, ideal for working with complete disk units
This free and open source data encryption program, which works with complete disk drives, is therefore a good option if we need to protect backup copies before uploading them to the cloud. It supports AES encryption (hardware and software), and other algorithms such as Twofish and Serpent . It incorporates the possibility of formatting partitions with several systems to choose from, as well as a boot manager with which to open the encrypted partition. Its main drawback is its interface, which can be greatly improved. Their integration into Windows Explorer is also missing, as if they incorporate other options on the market.
DiskCryptor is completely free for all users. In order to use it, we must download it from the following link .
