UPDATE: 2014-04-16
Some time ago BoxCryptor makers have decided to expand BoxCryptor functionality in which manner they've renamed old BoxCryptor to BoxCryptor Classic and introduced new BoxCryptor which is now based on cloud technology. Therefore you can still use the old BoxCryptor described below, but just keep in mind it is now called BoxCryptor Classic. The point is new BoxCryptor has some useful features but they're not free and for some reason I like to stick to dekstop client rather than cloud solution.
Regarding mentioned changes I've also updated links to point to BoxCryptor Classic in the article below as for some reason (uh, oh which could that be?!) they've camouflaged a link to it on their pages so you don't have to wonder arount trying to find it.
Some time ago a cute little tool named BoxCryptor Classic showed up on the scene allowing users to take full advantage of offered free cloud storage services. It is really a great thing to have the most important files avaialble to you 24/7 on any platform and on any place covered with Internet access, but hey what about a security of those files? Security itself comes in two flavors - first one is secure transfer to free online cloud storage and another one is actually secure storage of those files.
And this is where BoxCryptor Classic kicks in - it is a small client that will mount a certain drive letter of your choice (at least on Windows, I don't know about any other OSes) to a certain folder (mostly common where your cloud storage provider client is syncing files from) and then it will simply encrypt everything you put in it before it leaves your computer. All you have to do is to make sure you use it only via assigned drive letter not directly to folder because there is no other way to encrypt your files - but everything is explained in tutorial once you install BoxCryptor Classic so there is no need for you to worry about it right now.
The main idea behind BoxCryptor Classic is actually supporting any cloud storage service no matter if its free or paid. This is accomplished by using the same folder to store encrypted files where your cloud storage provider's client is looking for files to sync.
The free version of BoxCryptor Classic will allow you to use only one cloud storage service at the time whilst paid version will allow you to use unlimited number of services and will also allow you to encrypt all file and folder names before they got synced to cloud storage provider. And no matter which option you choose to use, be sure not to forget your password as you won't be able to access your encrypted files without it - there is no password restore option ;-)
The most powerful feature of this utility is that you can actually use any (including FREE) cloud storage service and store your encrypted data on it no matter if this particular service actually supports data encryption or not. This comes from another BoxCryptor Classic strong feature - all data is actually encrypted locally on your computer before it leaves it so you don't have to worry if you have (non)secure Internet connection. BoxCryptor Classic is also available in portable format so you can easily carry it around wherever you go.
If you'd like to try BoxCryptor Classic but don't have any free cloud storage yet or if you are just looking out for good (and by that I mean offering a lot of storage space) cloud storage service here are some of them I've tried and using:
COPY.COM
Doesn't support file encryption on its own, but if you use BoxCryptor you'll be just fine. The main advantage of Copy.com is a large storage space they're offering with option to get even more depending on how many people you refer to their service. Since they're still rather new and trying to get as much users as they can they still have great free offer so I definitely suggest you to try them. They also have very "relaxed" scheme of counting storage space which is actually using more but counting as less storage space used. Copy.com is service you should definitely try.
TRESORIT
When they launched their service they were offering 50GB of free space in promotional period as I've wrote about it. It was a good opportunity to get some decent amount of free cloud storage. But as it's name suggests this service is offering secure cloud storage even if you don't use BoxCryptor Classic. This doesn't mean you cannot couple those two services and make things even safer if you'd like to. The most interesting part is that Tresorit had open contest and reward for anyone who can break their encryption. As far as I know and note on their official web page this hasn't happened until now. You can also increase your storage space by referring other people to their service. So be sure to try Tresorit as well.
I know there are some other services which are far more famous as DropBox and Box, but IMHO these newcomers have way better terms (storage space) so I won't write about them.
If you found this post to be useful please consider encouraging me to keep up the good work. You can easily do it by signing up with Copy.com cloud storage provider. Just click here and you will get 15GB + 5GB for following my link absolutely FREE. This way I'll get 5GB too.
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