KI 2083 How to encrypt external storage media - Windows

Loss of storage medium in connection with moving data between computers has been the source of major data leaks in several cases. If you lose a memory stick, the problem is not only that you lose the data, but the data may be misused if it falls into the wrong hands.

How can you safely move data between different computers? Simple! Windows has built in tools for you to encrypt sensitive data. This means even if you lose the USB memory stick (or hard drive) the data stored on it is safe and no-one who finds it will be able to access the data.

But, this doesn’t happen automatically, so if you’re handling data that is sensitive you need to remember to encrypt the USB stick before you put the data on it. How? Read on…

If both the sender and receiver of the data have a modern version of Windows, then you can simply use “BitLocker to go”. The entire process is seamless and you can even set up the computers to remember the password so you’ll only need to enter it once on each computer. If you’re using a UiB laptop the chances are good that this feature is installed so try this first.

Before you start: make sure the external drive is empty and does not contain any data. This process will delete all data on the drive so if there’s anything there it will be deleted. Make sure it’s not your only copy or your data will be lost forever!

Insert the USB memory stick or connect the external hard drive to your computer in the normal way. Find the device (e.g. “USB Drive (E:)” in this case) and right click on it. Select Turn on Bitlocker.
Wait while Windows prepares the drive to be encrypted.
Choose a password.
Ideally use a password manager such as KeePass or 1Password to generate and store the password and make it a password that you don’t use for anything else.

Enter the password twice as prompted and click Next.

You will be asked if you want to print or save a “Recovery key”. This is used if you ever forget the password. It is a good idea to print or save this if you have somewhere secure to store it (e.g. on your UiB OneDrive area which is automatically backed up and accessible only to you).
Wait while the device is encrypted. This can take a while for a large drive, but only happens once.
You’re done!
The icon of the drive changes to show that it is encrypted (and unlocked since you have entered the password).

You can now use the drive as usuallly to save and work with your files.

The entire contents are encrypted and only people with the password (or recovery key) will be able to access the data.

When you plug the device into a new Windows computer it will ask you for the password.

If you click More options here and check the box to remember the password, the device will from now on be automatically unlocked when it is plugged into this computer, but only for your user - not for other users on the same computer.