Running your gradebook program on a removable USB Flash drive raises the issue of security if you store your gradebooks on the same drive. This article examines three ways of protecting your gradebook files by using different approaches to encrypting the files.
The previous "Using Gradebook Software From a Portable USB Drive" article explained how to run a gradebook program from a portable USB Flash drive. This is very convenient as it allows you to work on your student grades on almost any computer at any time,
even if network or Internet connectivity is limited. When using a gradebook in this way it is important to consider the security aspects of the grades stored on a portable USB drive.
In one sense, storing student grades on a portable drive is no less secure than storing their grades in a paper based gradebook -- both can be lost and found by someone other than you -- the fact that a USB drive is so small can be a problem. USB Flash drives are often called thumb drives for the reason of their size.
If not cared for there is the real possibility that your USB drive, with all the data on it, could be misplaced. The increasing capacity of such drives also means that there is a lot more information that could fall into the wrong hands in the event of the drive going missing.
In the remainder of this article, options for protecting and securing your gradebooks are explained. There are three approaches covered here.
- Encryption of the entire USB drive, so none of the contents can be viewed without the correct password.
- Use the password protection of your gradebook program, if available.
- Encrypt individual files on the USB drive so that a password is required to open and work with the gradebooks.
Encrypt the whole drive
There are several software systems that are highly secure and can encrypt the entire volume of a USB flash drive. One example of this method is TrueCrypt which is a highly secure and popular for some users. But usually such software has one significant limitation.
Normally there needs to be a special Windows driver installed on each PC that you want to be able to open the files of the USB Flash drive. If you are using your gradebook program at specific fixed locations, then this may not be a problem as you can install the encryption driver on each one and then freely move between each PC to access your files.
Even then there is the extra hurdle that installing the special Windows driver is not always possible. Installing the software required for the encryption software may require a level of access to Windows such as being an administrator. This may not be practical if you want to use your gradebook program on a workstation at work, or in another environment where you do not have the freedom to install additional software.
So while encrypting an entire USB drive is secure, it can limit the flexibility and convenience of working with your gradebook program absolutely anywhere. Since flexibility is the point of having a gradebook that can run from a portable drive, encrypting an entire drive is often not recommended.
Gradebook Password Protection
If your gradebook program has the ability to password protect the gradebook files, then using it is an obvious choice when you are storing your student grades on a portable USB drive. With The Gradebook Program there is a command in the File Advanced menu called Protect that offers password protection.
This command prompts for a password and after it is entered the currently open gradebook file is encrypted using that password. Then after saving and closing the gradebook it cannot be opened again without the same password. This Protect command encrypts the contents of the gradebook file, so that if the gradebook is viewed directly in a file editor type of program the information is garbled.
When using The Gradebook Program from a portable USB drive it is recommended that you use to Protect command in this way on each gradebook file. In that case, be careful to make sure that you can remember the password because without it you won't be able to open your gradebook. For convenience, you may choose to use the same password of each gradebook file to make it easier to access each one.
Encrypting gradebook files in this way provides one level of security and will stop unauthorised users from accessing your student results. This encryption will prevent most prying eyes from opening a gradebook that they should not, but it is not a determined hacker proof solution. This leads to the next method of encrypting your gradebook data.
Encrypting with an external program
Encrypting your gradebook files with an external program adds an extra layer of security and can provide a higher level of protection than only encrypting from the gradebook program itself. There are several programs, both free and commercial, for encrypting individual files.
One simple solution is to use the encryption facility of a compression program. This has the advantage that you can compress all of your gradebook files into a single secure file that will also save space. One particular encryption program that is simple to use and compact in size and so is ideally suited to running from a USB drive is PeaZip.
PeaZip (Pack, Encrypt, Authenticate Archive Manager) is available in a portable version that is specifically designed to run from a USB drive and as a freeware program it can be used for no cost. If you do like the program you are encouraged to make a donation to a couple of charitable organizations that the program's author appreciates the work of. You can download the portable version at the PortableApps.com website.
With PeaZip you can compress and encrypt your gradebook files with only few steps. When compressing your files into a zip package the secure AES-256 encryption is used. After the gradebook files are compressed and encrypted the Secure Delete command in the File Tools menu of PeaZip can be used to remove the original gradebook files from prying eyes.
Don't forget backups
Once your data is secure be sure to make additional copies of your gradebook files somewhere other than on your USB drive. Secure, encrypted gradebook files are no use to you, if your portable drive is lost, damaged, or just decides to fail one day. Be sure to make backups -- that is multiple copies -- of all important data. One day you will be glad you did.
