Software to protect/hide files on removable drives?

[JeffL]

I've got a couple of external HDs - a 300 Gig Seagate, and a very slick wallet sized 80g drive. Primary use for the 300 Gig is storing stuff I don't need on an everyday basis (amazing how an 80 gig drive in your notebook can be so constraining!) and the 80 Gig removable is for travel.

I store some sensitive stuff on both drives (sorry, not "that" kind of sensitive - business and personal finance.) Both drives are often at work, and the 80 Gig travels with me on business trips.

I need some kind of software (free would be cool, but I'd pay something reasonable for a really elegant/effective solution) that will make it more difficult for someone to plug either drive into their computer and either see/read the data on the drives or copy it to their computer. For example, there are occasions when I have to go into a Fab in Asia, and I have to hand over my removable drive at the security desk. Now, I know if someone wants to get the data I can't stop them (short of not having it with me, but sometimes it is necessary) but I'd like something that would at least make it more difficult.

Suggestions? Thanks.

Jeff

[dannimal]

I can't remember if Iron Mountain's Data Defense would/could be extended to removeable drives (It's been a while since I sat through the web meeting where they described the pilot for us). It's likely overkill for you anyway, if what you really want is just encryption (if it extended to external drives, you could set it to auto-delete on suspicious activity).

[Brendan]

Try TrueCrypt. It's also free.

[forgeforsaken]

PGP is always an option, or you could go with GPGP which is open source http://www.gnupg.org/

[Kevin J Baird]

I use SafeHouse

www.pcdynamics.com/SafeHouse/

I've personally found it to be the easiest to use.

K

[Kunikos]

The base PGP/GPG is a royal PITA to use last I checked.