When an unencrypted USB removable media is inserted into a university-managed Macintosh, the Jamf Protect security software will detect the unencrypted media, and a prompt will display to require encryption. If the media is not encrypted, all data will be read-only.

To encrypt and protect the device with a password using Disk Utility, you must erase the device first. If the device contains any files you want to save, copy them to another storage device or volume.

  1. In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, choose View > Show All Devices.

    1. If Disk Utility isn’t open, click the Launchpad icon in the Dock,

    2. Type Disk Utility in the Search field,

    3. Then click the Disk Utility icon.

  2. In the sidebar, select the storage device under External you want to encrypt.

  3. Click the Erase button in the right toolbar.

image-20250124-144442.png

  1. Enter a name for the USB MEDIA.

  2. Click the Scheme pop-up menu, then choose GUID Partition Map.

  3. Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose APFS (Encrypted) as the encrypted file system format.

  4. Enter and verify a password, then click Choose.

    1. To change the password later, select the USB MEDIA in the sidebar.

    2. Choose File.

    3. Change Password.image-20250124-144414.png

  1. Click Erase, then click Done.

  1. Remove the USB MEDIA and re-insert. A prompt will require a password every time the device is inserted.


The USB media is now encrypted, and you can save files on it. If you have any issues, please contact ithelp.stjohns.edu or 718-990-5000.