The University of Oxford’s Information Security team has released three short training videos via their new YouTube channel. These give step-by-step guides to encrypting Microsoft Word and Excel documents, PDF files, and file folders.
Encryption is a useful tool for researchers working with sensitive data: password-protecting a file or folder is a straightforward way of restricting access, and thus can help to keep the information safe. This may be particularly important if material is being shared with collaborators, as it provides an additional layer of protection during the transfer of data. (You should, however, always ensure that whatever steps you take to safeguard data are suitable and sufficient for that particular dataset. If needed, the Information Security team can provide further advice on this front.)
The videos can be accessed directly via the YouTube channel, or via the Quick Links section of the Information Security website. The team hopes that the collection will be expanded to include other videos in due course. In the meantime, the website already contains a host of other useful material designed to help you keep yourself and your data safe.
