You might have heard of Dropbox Reader, and if you’re a current Dropbox user, it may concern you that the files you push there may be accessible to anyone who knows how to get to them.
A simple thing you can do is simply compress and encrypt the files you post to Dropbox using the freely available 7-Zip.
It is not enough to simply put a password on compression archives because even without the password, the list of files inside the archive can still be viewed. However, when you use a password and encrypt the archive, both the files and the file list are protected from viewing.
Step 1.
Download and install 7-Zip.
Step 2.
Locate the file you want to archive/encrypt, right-click it, choose 7-Zip > Add to archive…
Step 3.
Choose the archive format as 7z, enter a password, then check the box Encrypt file names at bottom right.
Step 4.
Click OK and your archive will be generated, which you can then push to Dropbox.
On any attempt to open the archive, this is what will happen:
The file list of the archive will not be shown, nor can the files be accessed without the proper password.
Granted, no amount of security is guaranteed to keep people out of your stuff, but it’s definitely better than nothing if you post any sensitive data to your Dropbox account.
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