Five portable security apps you should carry on your USB drive

By Jack Wallen July 30, 2012, 3:41 AM PDT

Image
1
of 9

Five portable security apps you should carry on your USB drive

Introduction

ntNOTE: If you’d prefer to view this information as a blog post, check out this entry in our Five Apps blog.

ntPortable apps make life easier for system and network administrators, and security is one area where portable apps can make a big difference. But there are so many to choose from, it’s hard to piece together a collection of tools that best fit your needs. Here are a few portable security apps you might never have heard of. Even if you only take away one or two of these tools, your portable security toolkit will have improved significantly.

ntPhoto: iStockphoto.com/AndreyTTL

SmartSniff

ntSmartSniff enables you to capture TCP/IP packets traveling on a network adapter and view the packets between source and destination.

SmartSniff

ntThe TCP/IP conversations can be viewed in ASCII mode (for text-based protocols, such as HTTP, SMTP, POP3, and FTP) or as a hex dump (for non-text based protocols, such as DNS). Having SmartSniff with you allows quick troubleshooting a networking issue from any PC on your network.

Omziff

ntOmziff is an encryption utility that can encrypt, split, and securely delete files (according to DOD standards), create file hashes, and generate random passwords. The encryption allows you to choose from all the standard types (Blowfish, IDEA, Twofish, and more).

Omziff

ntOmziff also includes a few utilities (random number generator, file append, and a command prompt) that can help you with other tasks.

Eraser Portable

ntEraser Portable is a secure data removal tool that can remove data from a drive with multiple wipes, pattern writing, and more.

Eraser Portable

ntThe portable version of this tool is based on the full version of Eraser and offers the same features. It can erase files, folders, and even previously (insecurely) deleted files. You can also instruct Eraser Portable to automatically restart or shut down a PC.

Remove Fake Antivirus

ntThe tool removes nearly 50 antivirus variants. It can be run as a portable app or, with the help of some scripting, can be saved on a drive and run on schedule or at bootup.

BleachBit

ntBleachBit is one of the best tools for freeing up hard disk space and guarding privacy. It frees cache, deletes cookies, clears Internet history, shreds temporary files, deletes logs, and discards various types of junk you may not have known was on a system.

By Jack Wallen

Jack Wallen is an award-winning writer for TechRepublic, The New Stack, and Linux New Media. He's covered a variety of topics for over twenty years and is an avid promoter of open source. For more news about Jack Wallen, visit his website jackwallen.

Account Information

Contact Jack Wallen

Your message has been sent
|
See all of Jack's content

In the current business environment, it is almost inevitable that an organization will experience a security breach that exposes collected personal data to unauthorized access. Under the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation, regardless of the severity of the security breach, organizations must inform their EU customers and stakeholders of the incident in a ...

Finding and recruiting competent talent for a business enterprise is an essential part of HR management. Overall success in a competitive business world is often a product of the quality of people hired to fulfill specific job roles. This need for quality people can be particularly intense for HR professionals filling technical positions. This hiring ...

A security policy is only as valuable as the knowledge and efforts of those who adhere to it, whether IT staff or regular users. Understanding the importance of computer and network security, and building accountability for these concepts, is critical to achieving organizational goals. The purpose of this policy from TechRepublic Premium is to describe ...