is it possible to password protect an external hard drive?

eastmidsaver

so recently i bought an external hard drive to back up files on my computer.
once i transferred it all across i realised that anyone who gets hold of this can access all my files, therefore it's not very secure.
to be fair, i don;t really have anything sensitive, but just wondering is there a way to password protect it?
can't find much useful on internet without downloading software etc.
thanks.

Sandtree

You can encrypt the drive.

Depending which version of Windows10 you have it may have Bitlocker as standard which is capable of doing this for you else there are plenty of other applications you can use.

CoastingHatbox

I think you mean encrypt, rather than password protect.
It would be useful to explain what operating system you are using, as that will influence the available options.

Many  hard disk drives actually support hardware encryption. But it's generally not very good.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2995539/western-digital-self-encrypting-external-hard-disk-drives-have-flaws-that-can-expose-data.html

So software encryption might be a better choice.
But, given that you are using the drive for backup, you might not want to risk encrypting the drive in case you find yourself unable to remember the password and decrypt the drive. It might be better, for you, to put it into a key operated safe. Or in a very good hiding spot.

Neil_Jones

eastmidsaver said:

so recently i bought an external hard drive to back up files on my computer.
once i transferred it all across i realised that anyone who gets hold of this can access all my files, therefore it's not very secure.
to be fair, i don;t really have anything sensitive, but just wondering is there a way to password protect it?
can't find much useful on internet without downloading software etc.
thanks.

If you have 10 Pro or highlocker Bitlocker is an option:

https://drivesaversdatarecovery.com/blog/password-protect-external-hard-drive/

eastmidsaver

thanks for your responses.   i have windows 10 but i don't think it is the pro version.
it's strange these hard drives don't have option to set a password though,  and cloud storage doesn't seem like an appropriate option due to the amount of time it would take.

pbartlett

you can pay to upgrade to pro and you will then get bitlocker to encrypt your drive(s)

Neil_Jones

eastmidsaver said:

thanks for your responses.   i have windows 10 but i don't think it is the pro version.
it's strange these hard drives don't have option to set a password though,  and cloud storage doesn't seem like an appropriate option due to the amount of time it would take.

Much like USB storage the option is software based, a third party solution.  Bitlocker is software solution.  Hardware drive encryption does exist, but its totally overkill for most domestic situations. It may be beneficial for state secrets or something high-profile like that, but realistically the weakest link is always the human, which you can't encrypt..  State officials have left (printed) classified stuff on trains and at bus stops and whatever else over the years, had equipment stolen and whatever else..

The other option I was going to suggest was maybe if the drive is a "normal" drive once you get it out the caddy, stick it in a machine and apply a HDD password, then reinsert it into the caddy.  The one pro to doing this is that the password will travel with the drive, but the con may be depending on the machine you feed it to initially, it may get locked to that machine and be unusable on another machine in any form.  The theory goes it should prompt for password for that drive when you connect it to another machine.

debitcardmayhem

veracrypt is free

Sandtree

eastmidsaver said:
it's strange these hard drives don't have option to set a password though,  and cloud storage doesn't seem like an appropriate option due to the amount of time it would take.

I think you may be getting hung up on the word "password" a little.

The hard disk inside your computer equally doesn't have a password but your operating system does, if you've set one. Were someone to take the hard disk out (or boot from a USB stick) they equally could access everything on the disc unless you're using disc encryption.

This is the problem with a password alone, if the data is unencrypted there can be ways to get around passwords (eg the usb boot to avoid Window's password) and to still get to the data. Data encryption still needs a password to access it but getting around the password just gives you unreadable data. 

Hardware encryption does exist but it simply does the same thing, its only advantage is that any new machine doesn't need to install the decryption software so makes secure data storage on physical media easier.

Backup to cloud is perfectly possible, depending on your internet speed. Ideally you'd use an iterative backup solution where each backup isnt a full copy but just a copy of what has changed since the last backup which makes data volumes much smaller after the first one.

prowla

The problem with releasing an external drive with self-contained encryption would be:

1. It would be more expensive, so most people wouldn't buy it.
2. It would be compromised if security issues were found.

Thus it is typical to encrypt on the computer instead, or alternatively you can encrypt the files before you copy them onto the drive.

Coincidentally, I plan to be getting an external drive and encrypting it (in my case using LUKS on Linix) to store some sensitive data on, probably in the next week or so.

pbartlett

also, if you have a lot of data, you might want to split it 

1. doesn't need encryption (eg .mp4 files of your favoutite movies) - back.it up to ordinary, unencrypted hard drives for example. Pointless encrypting 4tb of movies, audio, windows isos etc !

2. does need encryption (everything you don't want anyone else to see) - I suggest bitlocker but if not much data you could consider a hardware encrypted thumb usb drive