Encrypting a thumb drive

Question

What I would like to do is create a hidden, TrueCrypt partition on my thumb drive (along with the "fake" partition that it creates) but I also don't want to have the TrueCrypt software installed onto my machine.

Is there a way to do this but add TrueCrypt as an auto-start item so I plug in my thumb drive, mount the hidden partition, and go?

Beyond that, is there a way to make it work in ANY operating system (i.e. automatically start TrueCrypt on OS X, Linux or Windows on plug-in)? I'm more concerned with my first question but this would be icing on the cake.

Answer 1

Two things you might look into are "TrueCrypt Portable" and "Free OTFE" I believe TrueCrypt already supports OSX, Linux, and obviously Windows.

http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/articles/41053.aspx

http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=truecrypt-portable

Answer 2

At that point, you might as well install Ubuntu on a thumb drive. Ubuntu gives you the option of encrypting your data.

Answer 3

I believe you want TrueCrypt Portable. AFAIK, it only works on Windows, but oh well. It also requires administrator access on the computer(s) you want to use it on to load the TrueCrypt driver. Alternatively, you can have your administrator install the regular TrueCrypt, and simply input your USB thumb drive.

Answer 4

You could use Duplicity to store your data online in an encrypted form accessible anywhere.