Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
and entering the password when prompted. To unmount it, just click the
Eject icon next to its entry in the sidebar of Finder, under the Devices head-
ing—just like you eject a USB memory stick when you've finished with it.
Because it's just a file, the encrypted archive can be transferred to a USB
memory stick and should be compatible with other Mac computers (including
those running recent versions of OS X, from Snow Leopard 10.6 upward).
Once the encrypted archive is created, you can rest safe in the knowledge
that—without the password—absolutely nobody will be able to access the
data inside it.
Creating an Encrypted Archive: Step-by-Step
Here are the steps required to create a password-protected archive:
1.
Start Disk Utility, which you can find in the
UTILITIES
folder within the
Applications view of Finder.
2.
On the Disk Utility toolbar, click the New Image button.
3.
In the dialog box, type a filename for the archive into the Save As field,
and beneath that choose a location where you want to save the archive.
Type the same name in the Name field below—this is what'll appear in
Finder to identify your filestore whenever you mount your new archive.
4.
In the Format drop-down list, select MS-DOS (FAT). This gives you the
ability to create smaller archive containers compared to using Mac disk
formats. Don't worry if this sounds less than perfect—FAT is the same
disk format used on USB memory sticks and photographic memory cards.
Your Mac is 100 percent compatible with it.
5.
In the Size drop-down, select an archive size. Even if they're empty, OS
X archives are still full size. In other words, a 2.5MB archive will always
be 2.5MB, even if there's only a tiny 10KB file in it, and they don't expand
and contract to fit their contents. Choose a size that fits your needs.
6.
In the Encryption drop-down list, select 256-Bit AES Encryption. This is
an extremely secure form of encryption that's as strong and unbreakable
as you could need. It's a little slower if you're saving massive files to
archives, so if you intend to encrypt huge video files and are also impatient,
you might like to select the 128-Bit AES Encryption option. This choice
is also extremely secure.
7.
Leave the other fields as they are, and click the Create button to begin
making the archive.
