Steganos Privacy Suite is a paid Windows bundle from Steganos. It combines two of the company’s programs, Steganos Data Safe and Steganos Password Manager, plus a file shredder. Data Safe keeps confidential files in encrypted storage that opens as a drive. The Password Manager holds logins and other private records and fills them into websites and apps. The password side also has companion apps for iOS and Android. A trial period is available.
Encrypted safes that open as drives
A safe in Steganos Privacy Suite is an encrypted storage area with its own name, drive letter and password. When it is unlocked, it appears in Windows Explorer as an extra drive. The safe encrypts files as they are written to that drive. Programs use them normally while the data on disk stays unreadable. Closing the safe removes the drive from Explorer until the password is entered again.
Newer safes use file-based 256-bit AES encryption with AES-NI processor acceleration instead of one fixed container. They grow as files are added, so they reserve no disk space in advance. Older container safes keep working, and safes also open on ARM-based Windows devices.
Per-safe settings cover the name, drive letter, password, storage location and whether Windows shows the safe as a local or removable drive. You can also back up a safe and give it a keyboard shortcut. You can link it to applications that start when it opens and quit when it closes.
Cloud, network and portable safes
When you create a new safe, Privacy Suite asks whether to store it in a cloud-synced folder or on a local or network drive. It detects installed Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive and MagentaCLOUD clients and offers their folders directly. You can use other cloud services by entering their folder path. A safe stored this way can be opened on several connected computers. Several users can write to network safes on a shared drive at the same time.
A portable safe is created on a USB stick, an external hard drive or optical media. It consists of a starter program named after the safe plus a folder with the encrypted data. You must copy both together when moving the safe. Running the starter on another PC opens the safe after the password is entered.
Passwords and second factors for safes
As you set a safe’s password, a meter shows its quality and entropy. Alternatively, a built-in generator can produce a long random password. Optional extras include a key device, an emergency password, and two-factor authentication with time-based one-time codes from Authy, Microsoft Authenticator or Google Authenticator. Steganos cannot reset a lost safe password or decrypt a safe on the user’s behalf.
Keyrings in the Password Manager
The Password Manager in Steganos Privacy Suite stores its data in a keyring, an encrypted vault protected by a master password. Besides website logins, a keyring holds payment details, documents and notes such as license keys or Wi-Fi passwords. Entries are sorted into categories shown in a sidebar. You can pin frequently used logins, and a live full-text search finds entries as you type.
You can type the master password or generate it from chosen character types and length. You can also enter it through a virtual keyboard meant to defeat keyloggers. A key stored on a USB stick can also unlock a keyring. A second factor from a phone app can protect it. Windows Hello can open it by fingerprint, face or PIN. You can import existing data from 1Password, LastPass, KeePass CSV files, Chrome and Edge.
Filling in logins
Browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Edge fill in a login automatically when an entry has a matching login address. They can also fill it in on demand from the extension’s menu. During sign-up on a new site, the Account Assistant proposes a username and a strong password. Elsewhere, you can drag login details from a small widget or the main window into a form field, or copy them to the clipboard.
Keyrings on phones and other PCs
You can synchronize keyrings through Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive or MagentaCLOUD. Keyring encryption and decryption take place only on the user’s own devices. The iOS and Android apps use the same keyring. They can unlock it by fingerprint or face and fill in passwords through the phone’s autofill system.
Without a cloud service, the Windows program exports the keyring as a set of encrypted files for the mobile apps. The apps import these files over USB or a file manager. This is a one-time copy, so later changes on the PC reach the phone only after another export. The iOS app can export a keyring back to a computer, while the Android app only imports.
Shredder for deleted files
The shredder included with Steganos Privacy Suite deletes chosen files by overwriting their data on the disk. Recovery tools cannot restore them afterwards. It can also overwrite a drive’s free space. This removes leftovers of files that were deleted earlier in the normal way. It uses a single overwrite pass.
