There are little options when you want to keep private things private in today's digital world. For securing native digital objects, encryption is your best option, especially when it comes to those easy-to-lose removable devices. Read on to find out how to keep your USB thumb drives secure by encrypting it and the files on it.

Utilizing the new File Vault 2 encryption in Lion, Disk Utility can now take on the task of encrypting any of your drives. For the nerdy folks: Using this method, your drive will be encrypted using XTS-AES 128-bit encryption. This simply means that your data will be saved by a top-level of security.

What You'll Need

>> Mac OS X Lion
>> USB Thumb drive (or another external disk)

Encrypting Your Drives

Before we begin, remember that all the data on the drive you will be encrypting will be erased. So, if you have anything important on your thumb drive, you should stow it in a safe location on your Desktop until the drive is encrypted.

To begin the encryption process, open Disk Utility (located in /Applications/Utilities).

Once there, click on your thumb drive name in the sidebar, and then click on the Erase tab. From the Format drop-down menu, select "Mac OS X Extended (Journaled, Encrypted)." Enter a name for the drive in the "Name" textfield, and then click on the Erase button.

After doing this, a dialog will appear, requesting that you enter a new password, and then verify it. For recovery purposes, you will be able to enter a password hint. When finished, click on the Erase button again.

Disk Utility will then begin the Erase and Encryption process. This process may take a while depending on how large your thumb drive is. After the drive format has finished, you may close Disk Utility.

Using Encrypted Drives

Using your encrypted drive will be similar to using a non-encrypted drive, with one exception: When you plug the drive into your Mac, you will be prompted for the password entered during the erasing process.

After entering the password, the drive will mount in Finder, and you will be able to use it just like a normal thumb drive. Plus, your data will be safely stored away from prying eyes.

Remember, just like with any drive, it's always important to properly eject the drive by clicking File > Eject in Finder (or by pressing the small eject button beside the name in Finder).

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