Encrypt or lock video files or drive partition?

[coffeecup-sf]

As you can see on the left, the country I am in is not at all a free one. Anything is up for inspection by big brother and his nephews. Not only at borders and airports but routine walk throughs of homes here is part of the national plan. I have already been looked through my luggage and bags, and computer equipment, and it's not fun explaining any and every last item they care to ask about. Trust me, once they get started, its all fun for them. They live for that stuff, it's their job - like cracking a code, and they make the rules.

Anyhow have some video files on my hard drives I wouldn't care for anyone else seeing. Would be interested in putting those files into an altered format. Wonder if there is any particular program that does just that, takes a video, processes it into something unrecognizeable like a ".DAT" file or something, makes it look like just a chunk of data.

The only ways I can think of doing it from scratch would be to use something like another kind of "winzip" program, takes data and puts it into a big block. only problem winzip is too common. Only other way I thought of is the really long route, make programs into a dvd-format, block it all into a bunch of VOB files, but that might take way too long.

Appreciate any and all suggestions, help.

[monzie]

Why not just change the vids .FILE EXTENSION (and possibly its name)?

eg....pornovid.avi... could become... cooking.pan or 1578.num

cooking.pan (1578.num etc) would become unplayable until the file extension (.pan) was changed back to .avi (no need to change the name BEFORE the . )

[guns1inger]

There are a number of encryption algorythms that have not been broken yet. Zip is not one of them. Encrypted zips are very easy to break. RAR, on the otherhand, is to date unbreakable by anything other than brute force attack (keep trying combinations until you beat it - takes forever). Then there are programs such as PGP that can encrypt anything and not be broken.

The problem with all of these, and even simple renames, is that the file remains, and if spotted you may be questioned as to what it is.

What about actually burning it to CD (or DVD, as data) and hiding it elsewhere ? If it's not on the machine, no-one is going to ask what is in that 760mb doc file.

[Prot]

I see you are using XP Pro. That's good. Use your NTFS permissions to stop anyone from viewing those files, or even seeing what's in the folders. Just give the folder a name such as "system_files_1" or anything along those lines, and then explain it as the OS will not allow you to view those files.
I would suggest using NTFS encryption as well, but it would slow down viewing the files.

[Prot]

Correction: I would NOT use encryption.

[coffeecup-sf]

hey sorry for the late get-back, I don't have internet at my house, have to go to cafes.

by the way just so happens was playing around right-clicking video files and saw that "encrypt file" option for WinXP. problem is don't have any way of trying it out to see if it really locks a file FOR GOOD. Haven't bothered to put another user on my system, and as for accessing the file from an outside OS (slaving the drive) haven't had the chance to try that either. Anyone else try out the encrypt file option? Prot, why do you no longer recommend it?

Would still be super if there was indeed a program, like a "partition magic" utility, that does something as specific as that. In the meantime I too was thinking something like WINRAR would be a pretty good option, bundle it all up into chunks of data, only problem is that and Winzip are terribly common to anyone with regular computer savvy and would be quite recognizeable. Therefore I should try to get a similar compression program that is new and unpopular -- should do the trick.

--
The way these guys work, if anyone is interesed, is they act like maniacs with things that look "suspicious" or recognizeable and they go ballistic, like a group of schizophrenics that knew they were "right all along -- aha!" Whereas things that look bland or "beyond their understanding" they simply go right past it. Funny thing is even TV dramas here have actors portraying inspectors and local natives playing the otherwise very serious game of hunt and hunted or invader and invaded. No doubt most locals even let on they are about sick and tired of it (random midnight home inspections, businesses with rules for just about everything, etc), I mean a little freedom of privacy, please. Anyhow any more suggestions/replies appreciated.

[coffeecup-sf]

by the way monzie, seems that on my winxp there isn't a way to change a file extension. if I rename the file, it just accepts the new entry as the whole file name (i.e. I enter "name.sou" or "file5.dat" and it just accepts it as "file5.dat" with the same extention of "avi" as before and the file is still the same format, and same WMP icon). any more recs would be great.

[presto]

I've used a program that hides the folders. It makes them invisible until you hit a certain key combination.

Check it out here:

http://www.download3000.com/download_9857.html

It works for me but I'm only trying to hide my porn from visitors. I can't swear it will keep the government at bay. Maybe others have comments.

[Alan69]

Do you really want them to be tempted to light bamboo sticks under your fingernails to make you give the password?


Find something inocuous for it to APPEAR to be, make it look like that, and then encrypt if needed.

Take a large PDF, attach it to the front, and rename the whole thing .pdf. Then if they try and open it, they get the big PDF they're expecting with errors on opening which are also common on PDFs. Hide the file in plain site, the plainer the better.

Not sure it even works for PDF, but something similar for a file format would work well.

Also, normal files names like your swap file etc would probably be bypassed just as fast. Then hidden in a system directory etc.. Make it appear to be stuff that they see so often that they just wouldn't begin to look at it, temporary internet files or application data are other good places to go..

Just the extention is not enough, you don't want it to play if they do an 'open as'..

Alan

[Skith]

I could be wrong, but I think there are programs out there that can hide entire partitions (partition magic might be able to).

The problem I see with just encrypting something is, they may realize it is some sort of encrypted file and ask you to open it.

If you have trouble renaming files in windows, try doing it via command prompt. To open a command window, go to Start->Run->type "cmd" (without quotes) and hit [enter]. The basic commands you need to know are:

(1) cd
(2) dir
(3) ren

To get info on the commands, type the command followed by a forward slash and question mark.

Example: dir /?

cd is used to change directories, dir is used to list directories and files, and ren is used to rename files and directories. A complete list of commands is avaialable at microsoft's windows XP proffessional documentation. Some commands may be unavailable for Windows XP Home users.

You should also consider the legal consequences of being caught trying to hide something. Having them find said videos may be less of a problem than having them find that you tried to hide something. (I don't know the laws over there, so you should be sure to weigh the risks, and avoid doing anything that might land you in legal hot water.)

Good Luck!

[redwudz]

coffeecup-sf, to change a file extension, you have to be able to see them. Just changing them the way you mentioned just changes the name, not the extension.

To make them visible, open any folder, go to 'Tools>Folder Options>View' and scroll down to 'Hide extensions for known file types'. And uncheck that option. You can change all folders or reset it with the selectors at the top of the window.

That will show the extension and you can change it to anything you like. If you change them to text, .txt, for example, the OS will try to open them with a text editor.

[coffeecup-sf]

Take a large PDF, attach it to the front, and rename the whole thing .pdf. Then if they try and open it, they get the big PDF they're expecting with errors on opening which are also common on PDFs. Hide the file in plain site, the plainer the better.

Not sure it even works for PDF, but something similar for a file format would work well.

What kind of utility program would be good for combining two or more files together, and marking only one of the files to 'run' if the bundled file is double-clicked? All the while, the bundled files would only appear as the first one. Thanks.

[zoobie]

?
I vote for just changing the file extension, too.
You're making a mountain out of a molehill.