Endpoint Encryption

Hello everyone,

With the questions surrounding TrueCrypt we are looking at replacements and I found Symantec Encryption Desktop.  I have downloaded the trial but can't seem to get it work like TrueCrypt did.  I'm hoping I can explain how we used TrueCrypt and find out if it's possible to do the same with the Symantec solution.

Using TrueCrypt we encrypted a 1 TB external USB hard drive.  We then connected this hard drive to a server in a secure location and shared it on our network.  On the computer we used to move files to the external hard drive, we mapped a network drive, fired up TrueCrypt and mounted that disk and we could access the drive.

With Symantec I can encrypt an external hard drive but so far I have not found a way of connecting to this drive when it is connected to another computer and shared.

Any insight would be appreciated.

It sounds like you want to have the data encrypted and shared across the network with users, if this is the case then Symantec Fileshare Encryption will help in your requirement. Which is a different component available with Symantec Encryption Desktop (SED) package.  

If above is not the case and you just want the (1TB) drive encrypted then install Symantec Encryption Desktop on windows server which will help to unlock and access the USB drive.  

The Symantec Drive encryption feature provides disk encryption and it will need SED package installed on the system to unlock and access this encrypted disk. Please refer below document which provides best practices if you decides to install Symantec Drive Encryption on Windows Servers.

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH149613

However I believe fileshare encryption would help in your requirement since the drive will be holding the share folders over network, hence use these file share best practices to test your requirement with this feature.

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH176017

Please revert in case of any further queries.

Thanks

Hi Brett,

We can go for fileshare (previously known as netshare) option.

Please refer following link for better understanding of Fileshare

http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH148974    

Fileshare is a component of Symantec Encryption Desktop, please cehck teh trail version which you have downloaded has fileshared enabled.

Here is the userguide and quickstart guide for Encryption desktop for reference.

http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC7060    

http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC7062    

Regards,

Sarfaraz Rahman

Thanks for the feedback guys I really appreciate. I don't know why I didn't think about loading the Encryption Desktop software on the server that was going to be connected to the USB drive. I actually think that's going to be a better option for us. We use the external USB drive for archiving data. Once a drive fills it will be pulled and stored and we'll get a new one and go through the same process.

I see both of your are recommending File Share.  In the scenario I'm describing does that still make sense?  It's more for long term secure storage, versus active reading/writing securely across our network.

File Share usually is to work in collaborative environment. Each user has its own key and permissions to access files.

For archives (similar to TrueCrypt) Symantec Drive Encryption can help. You encrypt whole disk and share as data repository. Note that encryption works with your key or password assigned to open and decrypt whole disk. One alternative with shared users is use an passwpord apart of key.

All great information, I really appreciate the feedback, I think we'll be making a purchase soon.