We all know the importance of file encryption to store our sensitive data.

But still, most of us, don’t do that because of procrastination or simply because we don’t know how to do that. Technically speaking, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm (called cipher) to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge.

There are plenty of File Encryption utilities available on the Internet for download. Some are FREE, some are not, and some charge a hefty price. Sometimes, it becomes really difficult for average Joe, to select the perfect file encryption program, as per his own requirements.

TrueCrypt, is a utility, which fits most of the encryption requirement of most of the computer nerds, and the best part is, it is FREE. Recently, one of its stable version 5.1a, was released, well not that recently as it is already about two months back.

IT is an Open Source encryption program which can render your disk, or any file or folder on your disk, totally encrypted in a split second. It works on all platforms; PC, your Mac or Linux, and performs encrption on-the-fly, which means that data are automatically encrypted or decrypted right before they are loaded or saved, without any user intervention.

TrueCrypt also allows you to encrypt your entire USB flash drive. However, you will not be able run TrueCrypt from the USB flash drive. This is because Windows does not support multiple partitions on USB flash drives.

A really nice FREEWARE.