Encrypted SD card - how do I access?

Question

Level 1

53 points

Encrypted SD card - how do I access?

I've just bought a plug in lightning cable that includes a MicroSD slot and you can use it wth the iOS app iUSB. I've decided to encrypt the SD card within the iUSB app so someone couldn't just plug it in to a computer and use, a little safety step anyway.

However its easy to unlock it in the iUSB app, but when I plug it into my iMac it shows up but is just blank. How do I access the contents? no pop up comes to enter the encryption code or anything

thanks

iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12.5), 21.5", Late 2012, 2.9 GHz i5, 8Gb

Posted on Sep 11, 2017 1:44 PM

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Answer 1

dialabrain

Level 10

135,821 points

Sep 11, 2017 2:19 PM in response to QwertyMan11

I should clarify. iUSB is an iOS app which means it has to be run on a iOS device. If you connect the SD card to whatever device you ran iUSB on, you could save the files to iCloud then download them to a Mac.

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Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

155,288 points

Sep 11, 2017 2:15 PM in response to QwertyMan11

If you want to encrypt a disk for the purposes you describe, please read Disk Utility for macOS Sierra: Protect a disk with a password using Disk Utility.

If you choose to use other, non-Apple encryption utilities, you're on your own with them, so consult its product documentation.

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Answer 3

QwertyMan11 Author

Level 1

53 points

Sep 11, 2017 11:50 PM in response to dialabrain

So I can't read the SD on my Mac, or any computer for that matter, when it's encrypted?

I thought it would still allow access if plugged in to a computer if had the code, but apparently not then.

So it's only readable in iUSB then. That's ok I suppose as you say I can share to iCloud drive or Dropbox etc.

Also I can make a new unencrypted folder with the iUSB app and copy files to it if I want to read on my iMac temporarily I suppose.

Think it's better to keep encrypted though in case I lose it? Will it slow stuff down when using the iUSB app?

Think I've just misread how to use it. Thanks for help.

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Answer 4

dialabrain

Level 10

135,821 points

Sep 11, 2017 2:04 PM in response to QwertyMan11

You can't. You would have to decrypt the SD card.

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