Protecting your USB sticks with encryption
Atick Security

© Marcio Eugenio, 123rf.com
How easy is it to lose a USB stick? Why not protect your data just in case the stick falls into unfriendly hands?
Many users carry critical information around on USB sticks. The information on the stick might include passwords, email addresses, spreadsheets, and other confidential information. If the stick is lost, the data could fall into the wrong hands. In this article, I'll show you how to encrypt information stored on USB sticks.
Encryption takes the worries out of carrying around USB treasures. Thanks to the device mapper infrastructure introduced with kernel 2.6, Linux now lets you add a protective shield to a filesystem. The dm_crypt kernel module uses this approach to encapsulate filesystems in an encryption layer. To mount the partition or hard disk, you first need to remove the protection by entering the correct password (Figure 1).
[...]
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.