• About Us

Allens on the Net

~ It's just us

Allens on the Net

Category Archives: HOWTO

How to use miniLock – a simple way to encrypt files

14 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by ubahmapk in Geek, HOWTO

≈ Leave a comment

From time to time, I find I need a quick way to send a file with sensitive information in it, but don’t want to bother with PGP or some other file encryption method – usually because the recipient isn’t comfortable with PGP.

Enter miniLock. miniLock is a Chrome app and relies on the combination of your email address and a strong passphrase as your key. This is both a positive and a negative.

That’s great because it means you can encrypt and decrypt files on your Chromebook. It’s bad because most people don’t have good passwords – much less passphrases.

Still, it’s a simple way to encrypt files, and can be used by almost anyone without the need for any sort of indoctrination.

At the risk of making the process more complicated than it really is, I took some screenshots and walked through the installation and encryption process below.

Step 1: Install

Installation is super simple. Visit miniLock.io and click the link to the Chrome App Store

01- Install from website

Click “Add to Chrome”

02 - Add to chrome

Step 2: Launch

Go to your installed Apps in Chrome and click on the light blue padlock

Yes, I'm a baseball fan...

Step 3: Create key

This is done by entering your email address and a strong passphrase.

04 - Login

Step 4: Select file

Your miniLock ID is shown at the bottom of this window. This key can be posted or sent anywhere – and should be if you want others to be able to send you encrypted files with miniLock.

My miniLock ID is UXTFUyqcoM3spXNMtqpZGqqNzjZyZsGiQQwezVH1UYNR5.

Now you can either drag the file you want to encrypt, or click the big square box to find your file.

05 - Add files

Step 5: Encrypt

Paste in the miniLock IDs you want to encrypt the file for. I strongly recommend keeping these in a text file or email someplace. Again, they are not sensitive, so it really doesn’t matter where you keep them. A file in Dropbox would work just fine. šŸ™‚

06 - Add miniLock IDs and encrypt

You can add more miniLock IDs if you need to.

Step 7: Save encrypted file

Once complete, you can download the encyprted file by clicking on the down arrow. This “.minilock” file can be attached to an email or sent via Dropbox or put on a USB stick or stored and distributed anywhere, really.

07 - Download encrypted file

Decrypting

Decrypting a “.minilock” file is just as easy. Simply drag and drop the file onto the window from Step 4. The file will decrypt (assuming it was encrypted to your miniLock ID) and you can download and save the original file.

08 - Download decrypted file

That’s really all there is to it.

While I prefer PGP for encryption, it’s good to have alternatives to work with, so I consider this just another good option.

About Us

  • ubahmapk

Days of Married Blisse!

Now counting LOTS OF days of married bliss!

Recent Posts

  • How to use miniLock – a simple way to encrypt files
  • Trey Bledsoe – 15 Years at CCBC
  • Batting Confidence
  • Providence Spring Festival
  • Happy Birthday Dirge….um…What?!

JM on Twitter

  • RT @thetsmorgan: Captcha is getting serious at work these days... https://t.co/WURee1BAKX 5 days ago
  • RT @bbletter: Some guy made a replica of Minute Maid Park as a skate park in the Tony Hawk game *Wait for it* https://t.co/NoQrhoDFPh 1 week ago
  • RT @troyhunt: A @1Password families plan is still one of the best security things you can do with your money. Up to 5 people (more for $1 e… 2 weeks ago
  • RT @SaadYousuf126: The Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers, brought to you by [lists 15 medical institutions]. 3 weeks ago

Follow us

RSS Feed RSS - Posts

Categories

  • Baseball
  • Betsie
  • Caleb
  • Charisse
  • Family
  • Geek
  • Holidays
  • HOWTO
  • Isaac
  • JM
  • Kids
  • Media
  • News
  • Photos
  • Quotes
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos

Archives

  • January 2015
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • September 2012
  • July 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • March 2010

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
    To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy