With Truecrypt it is possible to encrypt a virtual disk (folder), a partition or a whole storage device. The two most beautiful things with Truecrypt are real-time instantaneous encryption and simple and easy setup.
Probably you might ask yourself why you need it?! The matter of privacy today is very sensitive and as such sometimes we may need additional measures when our security might be compromised. Good examples of Truecrypt usage are protection of sensitive business or personal data, valuable pictures or movies you would not like to be expose to anybody else, I have read that some people hide their whole OS under Truesrypt so that nobody could activate it without them. You could encrypt whole USB device so when you lose it nobody could use or manipulate your data on it etc. Endless possibilities which let you sleep tight. :)
The link for this article located at Ubuntu Manual is no longer available.
