Flash Drive Encryption/Password Protection

Does anyone know of a FREE and easy to use program that can password protect the data on a flash drive?

My boss put me on a mission to find FREE software to do this. More and more teachers are beginning to use flash drives to store their data and I guess it was brought up in a meeting what are they to do if their flash drive is lost or stolen to keep their data safe. I have come across a few "shareware" titles but most of them are like $20 or so and my boss doesn't want to pay a penny. Since they data they are (or at least should be) storing on their flash drive should be primarily school/work related it is felt (by the teachers and administration stafff) it is technology's responsibility to make sure that data is safe. I guess the end user (in this case being teachers) do not want to assume any responsibility for their data.

So if anyone has come across and/or used such software I would just like it to be easy enough to use for the average computer user which doesn't know much. I came across this in my searches (http://www.penprotect.com/) but that states its $20 for a single license. This looks easy to use but is not free.

Edit: I also would like to find something that will run entirely from the flash drive and not require anything to be installed locally on any computer. A couple free ones I have come across require a software install on the computer and then an application to be run to encrypt the drive.

I think I may have found one that is relatively user friendly

http://www.softsea.com/review/USB-Vault.html

But I am still open to suggestions for other options

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OMGmissinglink

Most flash drives include a password protect program with the drive.

Encripting the data is a different matter exp. if you want other users to have access to the data.

http://www.tucows.com/preview/261303

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Some flash drives do, however the school district bought every teacher a 1GB Flash drive that they ordered in bulk with the district logo on it and those are completely blank. I am not even sure who makes them. I will check out your link. TY

how about truecrypt?
Free, opensource...

Why not just use the security feature that comes with windows.

plug the flash disc in, right click > properties select the security tab and issign the appropriate permissions so that only the owner can access the thumb drive through there profile.

that way if they use various computers around the place, they log into there user profile plug in the thumb drive and off they go.

And if it get's lost or stolen then they would need admin priv to edit the security settings to gain access.

And most people would plug it in and not realise that the security settings are setup like that, and either throw it away thinking it's faulty or format it and use it for themselves.

just a quick idea thrown into it. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by t34b4g5

Why not just use the security feature that comes with windows.

plug the flash disc in, right click > properties select the security tab and issign the appropriate permissions so that only the owner can access the thumb drive through there profile.

that way if they use various computers around the place, they log into there user profile plug in the thumb drive and off they go.

And if it get's lost or stolen then they would need admin priv to edit the security settings to gain access.

And most people would plug it in and not realise that the security settings are setup like that, and either throw it away thinking it's faulty or format it and use it for themselves.

just a quick idea thrown into it. :)

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THat was my first thought was to format the Flash Drives with NTFS and just use windows permissions. I even outlined the steps and how to do that all and my boss said that was too complicated.