Cloud storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and SkyDrive are slick and easy-to-use, but security is always a concern. If someone gained access to your account, they could view all your files. Encrypting your files protects them from prying eyes – if your account gets hacked or one of the service’s nosy employees snoops around, they won’t be able to view your files without your encryption password. Encryption can be hard to use, but BoxCryptor makes it easy.
BoxCryptor is a convenient encryption solution for any cloud storage service, and it runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. BoxCryptor also offers Android and iOS apps, so you can easily access your encrypted files on-the-go.
Interested? Good news, this week we’re giving away 25 copies of BoxCryptor’s Unlimited Business edition – that’s $2500 worth of software licenses! Better yet, everyone can download BoxCryptor and get most of its features for free — read on to learn more!
Using BoxCryptor
When you install BoxCryptor, the wizard will walk you through creating a new BoxCryptor folder in your cloud storage folder (for example, your Dropbox folder) and selecting a drive letter for your virtual BoxCryptor drive.
To add a file to your encrypted cloud storage, place the file inside the special BoxCryptor drive. You can also access the encrypted files you’ve stored in the cloud here. Using BoxCryptor is that simple! BoxCryptor takes care of the encryption dirty work so you don’t have to think about it. The encryption and decryption all takes place on your computer – your encryption password is never sent over the network.
![boxcryptor-drive[4]](http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/boxcryptor-drive4.png "boxcryptor-drive[4]")
BoxCryptor stores the encrypted versions of the files in the BoxCryptor.bc folder you created. You don’t need to worry about this part – Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive (or any other cloud storage service you use) will sync the encrypted versions of the files. Only people with your password can access the files.
You’ll probably want to create a backup of your BoxCryptor configuration file, though – if you lose your configuration file or your password, you’ll lose access to all your encrypted files.
BoxCryptor Mobile Apps
Cloud storage allows you to access your files from anywhere with mobile apps. However, if you encrypt files, you’ll need to use BoxCryptor to decrypt and view them. This is where BoxCryptor’s mobile app for Android and iOS comes in. It supports Dropbox, Google Drive, and Microsoft SkyDrive — just fire up the mobile app and select the service you use. You can even have the mobile app connect to a WebDAV share or load encrypted files off an SD card.
![boxcryptor-for-android[4]](http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/boxcryptor-for-android4.png "boxcryptor-for-android[4]")
After authenticating, you can navigate to your BoxCryptor folder and decrypt it with your password. You’ll be able to view the decrypted versions of your encrypted files on the go. You can upload files to your encrypted storage from here, too. The encryption and decryption take place directly on your device – your password is never sent over the network.
You can also set a PIN to prevent people from accessing the app and your files if your phone is stolen.
BoxCryptor Free vs. BoxCryptor Unlimited
Good news: All the features mentioned above are completely free to everyone. You can encrypt an unlimited number of files (or as much as your cloud storage service can hold) and access them from all your devices.
The Unlimited version of BoxCryptor we’re giving away also offers some additional features:
- Multiple Drives: Do you use multiple cloud storage services? You can create several BoxCryptor drives, each with its own drive letter and separate folder. You can also create multiple BoxCryptor folders on the same cloud storage service – maybe you want to share one with someone and use one privately. It’s up to you!
- File-Name Encryption: The free version of BoxCryptor doesn’t encrypt file names, while the Unlimited one does. If you store a file named My Secrets.doc in your encrypted folder, people will be able to see that it’s named My Secrets.doc – although they won’t be able to access its contents. With the Unlimited version of BoxCryptor, people will see random gibberish instead of a legible name. You’ll need an Unlimited version of BoxCryptor to create drives with encrypted filenames.
![boxcryptor-encrypted-filenames[4]](http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/boxcryptor-encrypted-filenames4.png "boxcryptor-encrypted-filenames[4]")
- Dedicated Support: Your BoxCryptor Unlimited license buys you dedicated support from BoxCryptor, while users of the free version will have to rely on community support if they run into any problems.
- Commercial Use: The 25 licenses of BoxCryptor Unlimited Business we’re giving away allow you to use BoxCryptor for business purposes. Aside from that, BoxCryptor Unlimited Business ($99 per license) is identical to BoxCryptor Unlimited Personal ($40 per license).
If you’re interested in the Unlimited Business version, be sure to enter our giveaway this week – we’re giving away 25 BoxCryptor Unlimited Business licenses worth a total of $2500!
How do I win a copy of Boxcryptor Unlimited Business?
Step 1: Fill in the giveaway form
Please fill in the form with your real name and email address so that we can get in touch if you are chosen as a winner.
The giveaway code required to activate the form is available from our Facebook page, Twitter stream and Google+ page.
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Hide 42 Comments
Nice to have but I’m still nowhere near having to resort to using encryption and cloud storage for my files.
Would like to try it, small business owner here that has implemented dropbox used daily by our operation.
Our free encryption solution Cloudfogger ( http://www.cloudfogger.com ) also allows transparent encryption and works with all major cloud storage services but also has the ability to securely share encrypted files with others.
Finally some security for the cloud..
*Warning:* These type of encryption containers (TrueCrypt could do the same, just not as easy to use) do cause much heavier bandwidth loads as ANY change, no matter how small, requires re-uploading of the entire container. Now, if that is NOT the case for this product, then please correct me. The BEST solution will be the one that do encryption on a per-file basis, and are able to obfuscate filenames on type of that. To my knowledge, no such product yet exists, with the latter (filename obfuscation or encryption) being perhaps the most difficult.
Also note that this will affect your ability to actually modify your files on the cloud – as they must be downloaded and decrypted first.
What we *actually need* is a Cloud service that encrypts data with a user-key on UPLOAD. Sadly, few offer this, as it prevents them from accessing your data, and also prevents YOU from accessing your data until it is downloaded. Thus, it kind of cripples the Cloud, in a way.
Hi Jeremy, our solution Cloudfogger ( http://www.cloudfogger.com ) encrypts the data on a file basis before uploading to the cloud service.
This means that only changed files will be reuploaded.
BoxCryptor encrypts files on a per-file basis, creating a new encrypted file for each file you add.
The paid version we’re giving away can also encrypt (scramble) filenames. The free version doesn’t, but the data inside the files is still encrypted.
100$ for unlimited, not bad :D
Yes 100$ is the best for unlimited access
Encryption in the cloud just isn’t that big of an issue for must people. I mean, the average person stores pictures or music in their dropbox, and their world won’t end if someone gets access to their copy of the Backstreet Boys.
Maybe, but everyone has important documents that they might want to back up in the cloud. Maybe tax returns or other financial documents.
Thanks For campaign.Good Giveaway.
I like this. And I was worried about using Drop Box.
MUO,
Thank you for the great giveaway. I would like to add this to my dropbox function.
Please enter me in the contest.
Hey Chris, this is really cool – thanks! One more level of encription will surely diminish the security issues in the cloud. Too bad I missed the chance for a freebie.
*Sigh
The US is a great place to live. We get everything cheaper than the rest of the world i.e. gas, electronics, cars. But upload speeds are abysmal.
Now days, all everyone is concerned about is download, download, download. What you see are download speeds 5 times faster than upload speeds. This is great if all one does is download movies and games but horrible for people who actually need to upload something.
With everything data-wise growing bigger in size, backing them up in the cloud is harder to do. My Nikon cameras take 16 megapixel shots that are 4MBs in size. Uploading one photo with my current upload speed of 0.06MB/s takes over 1 minute. If I want to backup my photos after a photoshoot, it will take about 2 hours.
This is why cloud storage is not practical for me.
Videos? Do not get me started. They are impossible.
Boxcryptor is an ingenious piece of software. It seems to allow one to easily encrypt files in the cloud but this review leaves some questions unanswered.
1. Is encryption really necessary?
I think dropBox, Skydrive, and Google Drive all have very protective privacy policies. They will not look through your files unless they receive a warrant to do so. Unless one is engaging in illegal activities, encryption should not be necessary. OR one is an employee from a competitor and storing next-gen prototypes in there.
2. How does collaboration work?
One of the great features about Skydrive and Google Drive is the collaboration workspace. I mainly use those storage services for working together on a project. With all the files encrypted, would Google/Microsoft’s collaboration features still work? Google’s ability to have multiple users edit a document at once and see changes in real time is handy.
3. Will mobile apps that use cloud services still work?
I have multiple apps on my phone that can access my files in the cloud i.e Quickoffice and EZFileBrowser. I take it from the review that integration with other apps will cease to work once files are encrypted.
Those are the main problems I see with encrypting files in the cloud.
One last thing, what if you lose your configuration file? Is it not the point of putting files in the cloud to have a backup in the case, say, there is a fire? But since all the files are encrypted and you lost your encryption file in the fire…
1. Good question. What if your account becomes compromised, though? Let’s say the cloud storage service has a problem and lets anyone log into your account (Dropbox has done in this in the past) or passwords are leaked. Now everyone can see your data, so if you stored sensitive financial of business documents in there, you’re in trouble.
2. This will break collaboration, unless you share your encryption password with another person — that should work.
3. You’ll need to use the mobile BoxCryptor app to access your encrypted files. You can however use Quickoffice to save files elsewhere in your cloud storage account — you just can’t open files stored in the encrypted folder.
If you lose the encryption file or password, you’re in trouble. Maybe you should have another backup then — for example, you might keep one copy of a sensitive financial document in a safe in your house, and upload another to the cloud. The encryption is the equivalent of the physical safe.
BoxCryptor encrypts the files using the AES-256 standard.
Thanks. I was going to include that, but I thought it might be a tad geeky.
would love to have one! looks very useful…
Im In!!
Good luck to all!!
good
With Dropbox’s recent security problems, I really need this!
I hope can win this license !!
Oh, I need this so much
Sweet!
Thanks!
Very useful, good luck to all those that enter! I have no use for this just yet.
Be cool guys, you can do the same thing with True Crypt, which is freeware, unlimited and the best in the class. You just create the container, upload the container, and then mount it in every computer of yours that have drop box etc installed. Boxcryptor does exactly the same, without telling you that, and asks for money though! I will stay with True Crypt of course…
TrueCrypt doesn’t have a really nice mobile app though, does it? It’s also a bit more complex to set up, although it’s not that bad.
Like anything, you pay for ease-of-use. You can bake your own bread and save money, but people still buy pre-made bread from the store.
Still dubious on how having the encryption file in plain sight where all your encrypted stuff is still safe. Wish the mobile apps (at least the android, where users have good control of the file structure) could let you put the encryption file in a separate place on the drive so it’s not actually up in the cloud.
Well, the password is what really matters — that’s the secret you need to protect. The file is useless without the password.
Hi,
TrueCrypt and BoxCryptor are different. TrueCrypt uses a container file to store your encrypted files and container files cannot be used very well in combination with cloud storage providers. Just google for “Dropbox TrueCrypt conflicted copy”. BoxCryptor encrypts each file individually which works a lot better when syncing your encrypted files with the cloud.
– Robert from BoxCryptor
pretty useful. And will be more and more important as the cloud takes hold.
Ohhh, looks like something very usefull :-)
awesomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Who Won
Its Not ME
Put a BoxCryptor container inside a Truecrypt encrypted drive or container. Double the security. Now if only I could get the portable boxcryptor software to mount rather than just show files.
Mounting would be pretty cool.
The odds of getting one of your encrypted containers cracked is pretty unlikely, though — if you secure it properly.
Great info on encryption I ahve always thought about it but now that I am starting to use these online services like skydrive I feel like I need to really start encrypting more…..
Is there a windows phone 8 app for skydrive coming in near future?
With WP skydrive is a must, but: Microsoft can delete your account whenever they think your own private (not shared) photo taken with your phone is inappropriate.
Yes, their terms of service is rather scary.
I’m no Windows Phone 8 expert, but isn’t Skydrive integrated in WP8? I thought it would be.