CryptoForge Files > Configuring CryptoForge Files

The Shredder page is used to specify the options for the built-in File Shredder.

Icon_Info The operating system does not offer a secure method to delete files. Deleting files by dragging them to the Recycle Bin does not actually erase their contents from disk. Windows simply removes the file names from the directories and therefore the files themselves could be easily recovered with the help of specific software tools. Emptying the Recycle Bin has the same effect.

The Shred feature overwrites files with a special algorithm to ensure that deleted data is really unrecoverable. For details on the algorithm, see Security and Encryption Algorithms.

You can indicate the number of times that CryptoForge overwrites files. More passes will decrease the possibility of recovering files, but will increase the time needed to shred them. For most users, two passes offer excellent protection for modern magnetic disks. For shredding extremely sensitive information in corporate environments or government agencies, more than ten passes could make sense.

Icon_Warning Changing the number of passes may affect total encryption time (except when using the Encrypt Copy Here function). This occurs because standard encryption is actually a two-step process that involves shredding. For details, see Encrypting, Decrypting and Wiping Files.

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Shredder tab

Configuring Shredder Options

Configuring Shredder Options