Steganos Privacy Suite 2008 review

Leaving your data unprotected can have many consequences, from embarrassing revelations to more serious business disclosures.

Steganos Privacy Suite 2008 works at the coalface of computer security. It is concerned with the integrity of your user- and application-created data, rather than the integrity of your system, making it the ideal companion to your existing internet security suite.

Privacy Suite 2008's main attraction is that it lets you create encrypted data safes. A safe can be on your hard disk or a removable drive, and its contents are unreadable unless you know the password. You can use a USB flash drive to store your password. This means you can use a long complex password without having to remember it. Safes help to keep sensitive files encrypted but easily accessible, which is useful if your computer has multiple users. To protect your communications, you can also create a Safe to hold all your Outlook information so your emails, contacts and calendar can be accessed only with a password.

Portable safes can be created to transport files securely. These are saved on a USB drive or CD, and will automatically mount as a separate drive on any PC when you enter the security password. You can also encrypt individual files and folders either through the included file manager or by right-clicking on the file anywhere in Windows.

When you delete a file from your hard disk, it isn't physically destroyed - only the record of its existence is, leaving the OS free to overwrite the actual file if and when required. This means traces of old files can remain on your computer long after you have 'deleted' them. The Shredder tool covers your tracks by thoroughly removing selected files and folders from your computer. It does this by overwriting them once, or multiple times, or employing the time-consuming but intensive Gutmann method to stymie even the most persistent snoopers.

All three methods can also be used for a deep clean, which covers all reported free space on a drive. Like encryption and decryption tools, the Shredder can be invoked instantly with a right-click on any file or folder.

Privacy Suite 2008 also includes the Internet TraceDestructor. This lets you dictate which data, such as cookies, temporary internet files, passwords and recently opened lists, should be saved from internet sessions and what should be deleted. Unlike much of this suite, non-Microsoft applications such as Firefox and Opera are supported, as well as media players such as QuickTime and RealPlayer and file archivers such as WinRAR.

Privacy Suite 2008 also provides a level of misleadingly named, but potentially useful, anti-theft protection. By registering your computer with Steganos and activating the AntiTheft application, your computer transmits a record of its IP address to a dedicated log on the Steganos server. If your stolen computer is connected to the internet, it will provide information that could potentially help you locate it.

Steganos Privacy Suite is a comprehensive data protection system. Just remember to use it alongside an internet security suite that includes tools such as anti-virus and firewall protection.