Computer and flash disk theft and confiscation is still the preferred method of security agencies around the world to get at activists' data.
Media: How to get into any Windows computer without a password. The camera is a little shaky on this video but you'll get the idea.
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Encrypting your information is a bit like keeping it in a locked safe. Only those who have a key or know the lock's combination (usually a password that unlocks the encryption) can access it. The analogy is particularly appropriate for TrueCrypt which creates encrypted containers called 'volumes' rather than simply protecting one file at a time.
You then simply store all your private data (or all your data) in this volume and it will be protected from unauthorised access by strong encryption and your chosen password. The advantage of this system is that data encryption (and decryption) happens automatically and does not require any extra action from the user. Simply copying the files to the container will encrypt them and moving them to another disk or attaching them to an email message say, will decrypt them. This is called encryption-on-the-fly and allows you to operate with your encrypted documents as you would with any other file on your computer.
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Note: TrueCrypt has three different options for creating a secure storage space on your computer or media device. You can create a file container, encrypt an existing disk partition or encrypt the entire computer. Even though full computer encryption may seem the most attractive choice, it is also the riskiest. If something goes wrong in the operating system's internal functions, your computer may never boot again and would need to be formatted. Encrypting a disk partition (disk D: for example) is possible only if such a partition already exists (and is empty) or will require you to split your main disk into two partitions – also not a trivial task.
Exercise: Go through the https://security.ngoinabox.org/en/truecrypt_main.html chapter to set up an encrypted partition. Practice moving files in an out of the encrypted container.