The multifaceted encryption tool zuluCrypt

Mounting a Container

In order to work with the container that has been set up, you will first need to mount it in the system. This is done by selecting the Volume Hosted in a File option from the Open menu. Then enter the drive path and password. Now mark the VeraCrypt Volume checkbox if this is the method you have selected, and open the drive. It then appears in the file manager as a standard partition and lets you handle it in that form.

There are several ways to close a partition. You will find the option Close all Opened Volumes under the zC menu. This option closes all of the containers at once. Alternatively, you can click in the main window with the right mouse button on the drive you want to close and select Close from the context menu.

Dealing with a completely encrypted drive is not that much different than dealing with an encrypted file. You don't have to create a file when creating a partition. If you want to make sure that you have deleted the contents of a drive, you can use the menu option zC | Erase Data in Device . This lets you overwrite the contents permanently with random numbers. The container itself will continue to exist.

There are several possibilities for administering passwords. ZuluCrypt comes with its own password wallet. In addition, the program can rely on the wallets the come with KDE (KWallet) and Gnome (Gnome Keyring). You can find all of the variations under the Options menu.

The tool zuluMount makes for more convenient administration of encrypted drives than is possible via the zuluCrypt menu (Figure 5). It displays encrypted partitions like unencrypted partitions and lets you mount and unmount encrypted drives using just a mouse click. If you want to administer unencrypted drives via zuluMount, then you should start zuluCrypt with root rights and select the menu option Manage Non System Volumes .

Figure 5: ZuluMount makes it more convenient to set up and manage encrypted containers.

Conclusion

ZuluCrypt has a straightforward GUI that makes it easy to create and manage encrypted files and containers. The documentation is worth reading and contains a lot of important background information.

I did not come across any problems with the application during testing. ZuluCrypt is speedy and error free. The option that lets you choose from various encryption routines also makes it possible to use data that has been encrypted with TrueCrypt or VeraCrypt under Windows and Mac OS X. Likewise, zuluCrypt can mount existing encrypted drives. ZuluMount offers a practical approach to dealing with drives.