Most computer operating systems include applications which can securely encrypt files and data prior to being shared by using less secure transmission methods, for example email, usb memory stick, cloud storage, etc.
However, most inbuilt encryption tools are not interoperable with across platforms, for example, a file encrypted with Microsoft's BitLocker technology on Windows cannot be decrypted using MacOS Disk Utility tool, and vice versa.
As a rule of thumb, if you know that the you and the people you need to securely share data with are also using the same operating system, we would recommend using the built-in tools.
If however, you are sharing data people which use an alternative operating system, we recommend using tools which support the open source encrypted 7z format using strong AES-256 encryption to secure your data. '7zip' for the Windows Platform, 'Keka' for macOS and 'p7zip' for Linux based systems all support 7z compression and encryption.
Installing and using Keka for macOS
If you are unable to resolve your query or support issue you can request help in the following ways:
All technical issues or queries are supported by the ICT Service Desk, please email ictservice@bsg.ox.ac.uk to log your request.
