For your eyes only

For a variety of reasons privacy or clandestinity may become necessary. Computing is no exception to this rule. Therefore, this week we will take a look at several methods that may aid you in your quest for these qualities.
To be more specific, we are going to concentrate on available options to track changes in and secure files. For those using a Windows based operating system, Windows offers a “protect document” feature. Let’s say for example that you are working on a book, thesis, or school project and you want to be the only person to make changes to or have access to the file. Assuming that you use Microsoft Word to produce the work, passsword protecting to track changes to it should be relatively easy. What this option does is allow you to see the alterations that have been made to that document. The password protects anyone else from deactivating this feature. A quick word of advice is to remember that the password is case sensitive so the password will be remembered exactly as you have spelled it. Also, you should store the password in a safe place because if you forget it then you are stuck like Chuck. The first thing that you should do is save your work. Next, click the header named “Tools” on the top bar in that window. Under the “Tools” header you should then select “Protect Document”. You will then be allowed to enter your password. After this feature is activated then you will be able to discern modifications to your document. The protect document feature is also offered in other Microsoft Office programs.
A company named FSPRO has a product called “Hide Folders”. Its’ name pretty much tells you what this software does. Hide Folders does just that, it hides folders. More precisely it allows you to password protect and hide your files from other users. In addition, Hide Folders touts several practical defense mechanisms against incursion. An unauthorized person cannot uninstall the program nor will it allow a file or folder to be erased by deleting the parent of that hidden folder.
The next level of secrecy is called Steganography. The name is often confused with stenography, the method of shorthand typing used in court. Steganography or Digital Watermarking as it is also known, is the practice of hiding one file inside another file.
The way that Steganography works is that the file is compressed and inserted into the code of the carrier file sometimes at the binary level. The inserted file does not alter the apparent characteristics of the carrier file. The ingenious thing about Steganography is its’ difficulty to detect and the range of formats that can be utilized. Just about every format from text to graphics and even audio files can be both carriers and inserted files. To add to my obvious interest in Steganography is the fact that you can find many quality Steganography programs as freeware or shareware on the internet.