EncryptUSB

If you really want to keep sensitive files safe, don’t leave them on your PC or Mac—keep them on a USB drive that you store safely when not in use. Fancy USB drives with DataLock encryption and possibly a fingerprint or PIN pad built in are popular with businesses. Consumers may prefer the much less expensive EncryptUSB, a software solution from ClevX, the publisher of DataLock. EncryptUSB effectively encrypts a single USB, though unlike the hardware-based DataLock solutions it's not completely portable. Our Editors' Choice winners for encryption do more: AxCrypt Premium encrypts your files with ease and handles secure sharing, while Folder Lock covers just about all modes of encryption.

How Much Does EncryptUSB Cost?

A USB drive with built-in keypad can cost over $100. One device protected by EncryptUSB runs you $9.96 per year, less than a tenth of that price. You can get a three-device license for $19.92, or protect 10 devices for $49.80.

Once you install EncryptUSB on a drive, it’s locked to that specific drive and can’t be transferred. If you lose the drive, all you can do is cancel the subscription and start fresh. The same would be true if you lost the expensive PIN-pad USB, though no subscription is involved.

The subscription model is common with antivirus and security suite products. That makes sense since the publisher has to keep up with the latest malware. Encryption products tend toward one-time fees, with new payment only needed if you want to buy a newer version. NordLocker and AxCrypt Premium cost $35.88 and $45 per year respectively, but virtually all the other encryption products I’ve reviewed use a one-time fee.

A one-time payment of $49.95 lets you use Advanced Encryption Package indefinitely. Folder Lock costs $39.95, once again a one-time price, and Cypherix SecureIT drops the price to $29.95.

My ClevX contact clarified that the subscription model allows a lower initial price point after the initial 30-day free trial. Indeed, most of the one-time subscription costs I’ve seen are in the $30 to $40 range. EncryptionSafe Pro runs $19.95 for five devices, though, and Steganos Safe costs $34.95 for five. If you let your subscription lapse, you retain the ability to decrypt all your files—you just can’t encrypt new ones.

Getting Started With EncryptUSB

You don’t have to subscribe to give EncryptUSB a try. Just download and run the installer, for macOS or Windows. Choose the USB drive for installation, run it from that drive, and set up your password. That’s it.

The app’s page online includes this statement: “Designed to run without installation on a host computer, EncryptUSB operates from the portable drive itself, encrypting every file placed on the drive.” I was surprised to find that it required administrator privilege for installation of a system-level driver on Windows. On the Mac, it needed a helper app and a reboot. How is that “without installation on a host computer?”

(Credit: ClevX/PCMag)

My ClevX contact explained that in the consumer arena, users normally have administrator access. In a business setting, where individual employees don’t have that level of access, ClevX recommends drives with DataLock installed, as this technology is completely host-independent. This does mean that you probably can’t use EncryptUSB at, say, an internet café where you don't have administrator access.

Seamless Encryption

When you mount your protected USB drive, EncryptUSB prompts for your password. Once you authenticate yourself, the drive acts like any other drive. Files you copy into it get encrypted automatically, and it decrypts files as you copy them out. It decrypts any file that you open for editing and re-encrypts it when you close the file.

(Credit: ClevX/PCMag)

A simple history display lists all recent activity. You open this display from EncryptUSB’s notification area icon menu in Windows. On a Mac, you select it by clicking the app’s icon along the top edge of the screen.

In testing, I found EncryptUSB’s user interface to be surprisingly tiny. Small popup windows appeared in the bottom right corner of the screen, with small print. The user interface overall gave me a dated impression.

Starting and Stopping EncryptUSB

When you plug your protected USB into a computer, whether PC or Mac, the encryption software should start automatically and request your password. If for some reason it doesn’t, just launch the program manually. On a Windows device, it’s EncryptUSB.exe. Mac users launch EncryptUSB.app.

If you right-click the decrypted drive in Windows and choose Eject, you get a warning that the drive is in use and that ejecting it might cause data loss. The EncryptUSB FAQ notes that this message appears because the EncryptUSB app is running, and advises, “As long as there is no other interaction with the device, it’s safe to remove it.”

(Credit: ClevX/PCMag)

On the Mac, ejecting the decrypted drive is a two-step process. When you first eject it, encryption ends and the non-encrypted drive icon appears on your desktop. You need to eject that drive to complete the process safely.

What Do Other Encryption Tools Do?

AxCrypt Premium and Cypherix Cryptainer Personal both offer a mobile edition, self-contained and made to run from a USB drive. These portable apps can encrypt and decrypt files anywhere on your system, not just on the USB. But if you store your encrypted files on the same drive as the portable encryption app, you’ve got something much like EncryptUSB.

With Steganos Safe you can create a portable safe on a USB drive. If the total size is small enough, it creates a single self-decrypting EXE; if not, it equips the drive with the encrypted files and a decryption program. Folder Lock likewise lets you put a self-decrypting EXE file on a USB drive. But what you get is read-only, not equivalent to the simple, flexible EncryptUSB.

All the encryption tools I’ve looked at let you encrypt individual files or folders except for NordLocker and Steganos Safe. Those two work by creating encrypted storage vaults that act like any folder when unlocked, but completely block access to their contents when locked. EncryptUSB’s style is most similar to the latter, except that the entire USB drive is the vault.

AxCrypt, EncryptionSafe, Encrypto, and NordLocker all provide for secure sharing of encrypted files; EncryptUSB does not. Advanced Encryption Package, EncryptionSafe, and Steganos let you supplement encryption security using multi-factor authentication; EncryptUSB does not.

When you copy a file to your encrypted USB drive, the new copy is protected, but the original is not. Even if you delete it, a forensic recovery tool could bring it back. More than half the encryption utilities I've evaluated include a secure deletion component, to foil even hardware-based forensic recovery. EncryptUSB, like NordLocker and Encrypto, does not.

Verdict: It Does What It Says

If you want simple automatic encryption for a USB drive, costing less than three cents a day, EncryptUSB is just the thing for you. You keep those important files in your pocket and use them on any of your PCs or Macs (though you may have trouble using it on a computer you don't own). But if you want encryption anywhere except on a USB drive, you need to look elsewhere. With AxCrypt Premium, you can apply military-grade encryption to files on your PC, and its mobile edition runs from a USB. Folder Lock gathers a broad selection of encryption features, among them the option to carry a read-only collection of encrypted files on a USB.