Desklock is a simple application for the Windows operating system that can be used to password protect programs. It places an icon in the system tray after startup which can be right-click to open a context menu with option to configure the programs that should be password protected. The default password to access the settings and password protected programs is 2.

The main menu with all password protected programs will be displayed after entering the right password in the form. The same password prompt will be displayed if a user tries to open a protected program.

Additional options can be configured for each program including hotkeys, transparency and to hide the program icon when the program gets minimized by the user. How safe is the password protection? Desklock appears in the Windows Task Manager from where it can be killed easily with the appropriate rights. Terminating the process would enable access to all password protected files. It is therefor recommended to install this software on limited user accounts that do not have admin rights to kill processes.

Desklock is available at the developer’s website.

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The only way to password protect data is to use encryption. It would theoretically be possible to zip or compress the files and use a password to protect them which would however mean that the data would need to be uncompressed before it could be used.

All you need to password protect CDs or DVDs is True Crypt (or another software that can create encrypted containers). The Open Source encryption software can create so called containers that can be filled with data. These containers are password protected and can only be accessed if the correct password is supplied. The user does need True Crypt on the other hand to access the CDs and DVDs.

Start by downloading True Crypt from the official website. Click on the Create Volume button after installation. This opens a wizard that can be used to create an encrypted file container.

Select to create a standard True Crypt volume.

Now select a filename and location on the hard drive for the container.

Keep the algorithms and select an appropriate size for the container. You might need to experiment with the sizes a bit. If sizes do not matter that much select 650 Megabytes for a CD container and 4000 Megabytes for a DVD container.

Now select a password and use the format button to format the container.

Now that the container is created it needs to be mounted which basically means to use the password to make it accessible in Windows. Click on the select file button in the True Crypt main menu and locate the created container. Now select the Mount button. True Crypt will ask for a password. Just enter the password supplied to access the container. The container becomes available as a drive letter in Windows then. You can now transfer data in the container. Once all data has been added it can be burned to CD or DVD depending on the size of the container.

The user then needs to select the file on the CD or DVD whenever data on the disc should be accessed. Everything else will remain the same.

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Androsa FileProtector is a software to password protect files in the Windows operating system. It can be downloaded as a portable version or one that has to be installed on the computer system. Three different encryption algorithms can be selected to password protect the files including 256 bit AES encryption.

Using the software program is actually pretty straightforward. Files can be added by the file browser. The files that have been added can then be password protected in the next step. The FileProtector will then encrypt the selected files and change their file extension to .afp. That file extension is automatically assigned to the software if it was installed on the computer system. Portable users will have to assign it or select the program from a list if they want to decrypt protected files.

The software can also delete files securely by overwriting them a number of times. This is an important step as the original files will be deleted after the encrypted copy has been created. Androsa FileProtector will display a password prompt if the file is executed on the computer system.

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Game Protector could be the solution here. (There are many others like creating separate user profiles for example). The application can password protect any executable that you select. While it is called Game Protector it can virtually protect any other executable as well. Usage is simple and straightforward.

The user browses to the folder the executable is in and selects it in the file browser. He then enters the password to protect the file from users who do not have the password. It is also possible to change the icon of the executable and to rename it.

A click on Protect will protect the executable with the password. The main interface contains options to create a backup first and to unprotect an executable again.

A password box is displayed whenever a protected executable is launched. Entering the password will start the executable normally while a false password will simply display the form again. One advantage of this service is that Game Protector does not have to be running in the background to protect the executable.

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I use it mainly to secure certain directories on my websites from being accessed without the proper authorization. This is the admin directory in the case of Wordpress for instance but could also be used to secure a directory that hosts some valuable files.

I would like to point out two possibilities that secure a directory with .htacess. The first is to protect the directory by only allowing users with a certain IP or IP range access to it. Everyone else would receive an access denied error message.

The second possibility would be to create usernames and passwords that have to be supplied before accessing the content.

IP Protection:

Create a .htaccess file and add the following code to it:

AuthName "Protected Content"
AuthType Basic

order deny,allow
deny from all
#Comment
allow from 255.255.255.255


Change the IP address in the last line to the one used by the user / users. You can use wildcards * if the user is receiving dynamic IPs from his ISP. It is possible to add as many allow from lines to the .htaccess file as you want. Place that htaccess file in the directory that you want to protect. (all subdirectories are affected as well.

The problem with this kind of protection is twofold. If your IP changes, say you are on holiday or accessing from a different location, you need to add or change the IPs in the htaccess code. Users who happen to have a IP of that range can access the content without problems. This is usually a user from the same ISP.

A more secure protection is the basic auth protection.

Password Protection:

Whenever a user tries to access a directory or file a popup will appear asking the user for a username and password. This method requires two files, a htaccess file and a htpasswd file. The htpasswd file stores the usernames and encrypted passwords and should be placed outside of the root directory of the website.

AuthName "Restricted Area"
AuthType Basic
AuthUserFile /path/to/.htpasswd
AuthGroupFile /dev/null
require valid-user

Since the passwords are encrypted you need to use a script to do that. A working one is the htpasswd Content Generator. Just enter a username and password and click on encrypt. Paste the line on the results page into the htpasswd file and place it exactly in the path that you specified in AuthUserFile.

It is possible to combine both protections for added security. I would begin by evaluating if your webhost is allowing those kind of files.

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