But Why Would I Want a Hidden Section?

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

If you have a suspicious parent or spouse who knows you have an encrypted folder, they may pressure you to open the folder in order to prove that you have something truly terrible inside. You may deny having anything bad inside the folder, but your suspicious parent or spouse may continue to pressure you until you open it. ..

This is what happens when you have a hidden section in your folder which only you know about. If you decrypt it, the contents will immediately show, but if you open the folder to show someone else its contents, they may find something they didn’t expect and could potentially damage your computer or even worse.

Make Your Own Narnia-Like Secret Passageway

To encrypt a file using VeraCrypt, follow these steps:

  1. Open VeraCrypt and click on the “File” menu.
  2. Select “Create Volume.”
  3. On the next screen, enter a name for your encrypted volume and click on the “Create” button.
  4. On the next screen, you will be asked to select a location for your encrypted volume. Click on the “Browse” button and select the folder where you want to store your encrypted files.
  5. Click on the “Create Volume” button to create your encrypted volume.
  6. To open an encrypted file, double-click on its icon or use the Windows shortcut key combination of Ctrl+E (Windows) or Cmd+E (Mac). ..

Then, select the type of article you want to create: -Article -Blog Post -Report

Next, you will be asked to choose a file name. You can either choose a name that is unique and easy to remember, or use a more generic name that will be easier to find. Once you have chosen a filename, you will be asked to enter a password. You can either choose a strong password that you know by heart, or use one of the many online passwords generators. Once you have entered your password, the next step is to create an encrypted file-container. This will help protect your file from being accessed by anyone else without your permission.

Last time, we did the first option. Today, we are going to click on door number two – “Hidden VeraCrypt volume”. The description gives you what I like to call the “Mafia torture/extortion insurance policy”.

Option 1: You can either choose to continue reading, or you can click the link below to leave. Option 2: Click the link below to leave.

To create a new VeraCrypt volume complete with its own hidden section.To add a hidden section to an already-existing volume.

Normal mode is the default setting for most routers. It’s a good starting point, but you may want to consider changing some of the settings to improve your network’s performance. ..

Next, create the “inner” VeraCrypt volume. This will hold all the sensitive files. So click on “Select File” and navigate to where you want that folder to go. Plus give it a name. Now, finally, create the “root” VeraCrypt volume. This is the one that will hold all your data and settings. So click on “Create Volume” and give it a name that you can remember later.

The location and name can be changed later if necessary.

Now set the encryption options for the outer volume. Unless you have any special reasons why, the default options are fine. ..

Now, set the size of the outer volume. Remember, the size of your hidden section needs to go inside of this, so the outer volume needs space for both the innocent files and the sensitive files. ..

Since this space cannot be changed once the volume has been created, it is important to have a serious think about how much space you will need. Better to err on the side of caution and go a bit higher. ..

Since this is just a temporary volume for this article, I did 1GB of data.

To protect your computer, you will need to create a password. After you have entered the password, click “Display Password” to check that you have typed it in properly. ..

Next, generate the encryption keys. Move your mouse around the screen randomly and watch the bar at the bottom change color. ..

When the bar is green, click “Format” to change the formatting of your document. ..

You will now be told to open the outer volume and copy your innocent files inside. The hidden section hasn’t been created yet. That comes next.

I copied some PDFs of tech articles into my outer volume so that I could have them as a resource for when I need to learn more about the subject.

Next, you’ll need to create a new VeraCrypt volume.

Hidden volume encryption:

  1. Use a strong encryption algorithm like AES or 3DES.
  2. Leave the default settings for the other two options.

Based on the size of the outer volume, VeraCrypt has calculated that the maximum size of the hidden volume can be no more than just under 882MB. So decide on the size and enter it in the space provided.

To continue using your encrypted volume, you will need to set a password and generate encryption keys. ..

The password for the hidden volume is different than the password for the outer volume. If you choose the same password for both volumes, the hidden volume will not work.

After you finish all of the steps, you will see this. ..

Your encrypted volume with hidden door is ready to rock and roll.

Opening It Up

  1. Click the “Create Volume” button
  2. In the “Name” field, type a name for your volume
  3. In the “Format” field, select “VeraCrypt Volume Format (VCF)”
  4. In the “Size” field, type a size for your volume in MB
  5. Click the “Create Volume” button
  6. In the confirmation window that pops up, click OK to create your volume In VeraCrypt’s main window:
  7. Click on the “Create Volume” button
  8. Type a name for your volume in the text box and click on OK
  9. Select VeraCrypt Volume Format (VCF) from the drop-down menu and enter a size for your volume in MB in the text box below it
  10. Click on Create Volume to create your new volume ..

Mount the volume to the C: drive letter. Click “Select File” to navigate and choose that volume. Click “Mount File” to bring up the password window.

Why You Needed Two Passwords

The Mafia has you and they are forcing you to give up your VeraCrypt password. The incriminating stuff is in the hidden volume while the stuff that praises the Don is in the regular folder.

What VeraCrypt does is it sees the user want to access the regular files in the folder, and that’s all anyone sees.

If you want to view the incriminating stuff on your Bonnie Tyler fan club ID card, type in the password for VeraCrypt. The program will then disregard the normal folder and only mount the hidden volume.

In this final installment of our series on encryption, we will be using VeraCrypt to encrypt your entire hard drive. I hope that I can avoid getting a Blue Screen of Death in the process. ..