There are some circumstances in which you would like to keep your information private, away from prying eyes. These are, for instance, when you store personal stuff on a corporate file server or when you send a sensitive file by e-mail. One of the best solutions is encrypting your files and protecting them with passwords. FileMask allows you to encrypt sensitive files, but much more than that, it lets you hide a file inside another so that no one can even suspect there is something encrypted there.
The program has an excellent interface with a minimalist design. Large buttons are available to perform the two main functions: encrypting and hiding files, and decrypting and unhiding files. These buttons also respond to drag-and-drop actions, so for example, you can just drop the file to hide on the corresponding button. Both processes are easily configured as there will be a series of numbered steps in a wizard-like fashion. Unluckily, there is no button to get back to the initial screen, but you can use the buttons in the toolbar to switch among functions.
This program has several advantages: it uses powerful encrypting algorithms as well as compresses the protected files. It creates hard-to-detect encrypted files working as masks for your files, even executable ones. You may argue that you can have similar results if you simply change the file extension, but File Mask does more than this. Let us say, for instance, that you have hidden a photo inside a Word document. If anyone tries to open this host file, he will be able to read its contents normally. However, be aware that the file size will certainly change, and hiding a big file inside a small one could give a suspicious person a clue that there must be something extra hidden there. It is also important to bear in mind that, in case you send one of the created files to a remote recipient, this person will need to have the program installed in the target computer to be able to open its contents. Unluckily, there is no way to recover a file’s content when you have forgotten the corresponding password.
In general, File Mask is a robust and easy to use application that will help you keep or send private information securely.
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