Files don't seem protected?????

thinkpic

Hi,

I just installed Boxencryptor and stipultaed an empty folder in DropBox as the folder to be protected and nominated a password. I then dropped a word file into it and closed down dropbox. I then clicked on the word file expecting to be prompted for the password but it just openned. I have a very sensitive document that I need to be on the cloud but needs extra protection. It doesn't seem that BoxEncryptor is working or am I missing something?

Boris

Hi thinkpic
BoxCryptor does not ask for a password for every single file. BoxCryptor provides a virtual hard drive after you typed in your password. In this virtual hard drive your files are on the fly encrypted and decrypted so you can work with them. In your Dropbox the files are always stored encrypted. So you always have to use the virtual drive to encrypt your files. After you copied your files into this drive BoxCryptor encrypts them and stores them in your Dropbox space.
Best regards
Boris

thinkpic

Thanks but I still don't get it. After your post I tried dropping a file into the virtual drive. From the drive I could then open it up without a password. When I openned dropbox there was a new wierdly name file. When I clicked on it it came up as undecyperable but didn't give me a password option to decode it.

I need to be able to access this file from various computers around the world without fear that it can its security can be easily breached.

What am I missing?

Boris

Hello thinkpic
your encryption has worked which can be seen at the undecipherable file. This file is stored online in your Dropbox account. To get access you have to use BoxCryptor which has to be installed on all used computers. Then you have to type in the BoxCryptor password to mount the virtual drive. You can't just download one file and type in a password. BoxCryptor always decrypts the whole encrypted folder which is secured by the BoxCryptor password.
Best regards
Boris

thinkpic

Thanks Boris for trying to drag me into the light but I still don't get it. I have BoxCryptor installed on the computer I am using and it is active but I can't figure out how I access the dialogue box where I can type in the password? When I click the Boxcrypter shortcut nothing seems to happen - certainly nowhere that I can type in a password. Similarly when accessing the nominated folder in my dropbox there is nowhere to type in the password (just as there is nowhere when I access the file in question).

I am so sorry to put you through this but it is very important for me.

Thanks again

Paul

Boris

Hi Paul
no problem I will help you!
So when setting up BoxCryptor you have to choose a BoxCryptor password. You can also choose if this password should be remembered by BoxCryptor or not. Which means every time BoxCryptor starts you have to type in the password if BoxCryptor has not remembered your password. It seems you chose to let BoxCryptor remember the password because you can't see the password input anymore.
You can right click on the notification icon and click on "Clear stored password". Now you have to type in your password when BoxCryptor starts. In your case I recommend you to not let BoxCryptor remember the password. So you have to type in your password when BoxCryptor starts and after usage you can exit BoxCryptor so your files are always safe.
I hope I could make clear how BoxCryptor works if not just ask me anything you want!
Best regards
Boris

thinkpic

Boris,
You are brilliant. Thanks for sticking with me. I finally have it working. I didn't understand the concept that the only way to encrypt files was to put them into dropbox and access them from dropbox through the virtual drive. I think all of this could be better described in their home page but it is brilliant. I have also been able to set up BoxEncryptor on another computer and use it to access the same file! Thanks so much.

thinkpic

I was unclear above. For the benefit of anyone else trying to figure out how to use BoxCryptor and having the problems I was, just follow the following steps. Hopefully this will help.

1. Download and install BoxCryptor to their suggested default drive. Allow it to open. Amoungst other things this will put a BoxCryptor shortcut on your desktop. If you click this icon nothing will happen as the programme is already running.
2. In Dropbox creat a new empty folder called something like "BoxCryptor"
3. Right click the BoxCryptor padlock icon in your notification tray and select preferences
4. In preferences select the path to your newly created folder, nominate an unused drive letter like Z for your virtual drive and nominate a password. (I chose not to select "remember" so that, as long as I remember to exit BoxCrypter after every session, I have to start BoxCryptor each time I want to access these files and am asked for this password everytime.)
5. Now go to your computer and you will see the virtual drive is mounted alongside c: etc.
6. Drag into the virtual drive the files you want encrypted in your dropbox.
7. You now can access the unencrypted files from this virtual drive. If you look at them in your dropbox they will be undecyferable.
8. I now go back to my notification tray and exit BoxCryptor so that no one who has access to my computer can access the file without knowing the password. (If you dont do this, though the file is encrypted from any other computer, if someone gets acccess to this computer they can view the file in the virtual drive without knowing the password).
9. Having exsited BoxCryptor you will see that the virtual drive you created no longer shows in your computer.
9. When you need to access the encrypted folder click on the BoxCryptor shortcut. It will prompt you for your password. When you enter the password the virtual drive will again show in your computer alongside C: etc. When you view the file from here it is unencoded and easy to read and ammend.

Thankyou BoxCryptor!