Automatic Drive Locking

In ubuntu (and other Linux Distros), you can add password to your hard drives in order to prevent someone accessing them, though this will only 'kick in' once the machine is turned off/unplugged. A reboot will not cause the drives to lock. This is good if a thief decides to physically steal your computer, though I don't yet know if it would prevent a very technically savvy thief (security agency).

# Enable the security feature
sudo hdparm --user-master u --security-set-pass (your-password-here) /dev/sdx

# Unlock your drive
sudo hdparm --security-unlock (YOUR PASSWORD HERE) /dev/sdx

# Disable the security feature (you will need to unlock the drive first)
sudo hdparm --security-disable (YOUR PASSWORD HERE) /dev/sdx

Don't forget to replace sdx with your actual drive letter. You can see them by running this command:

ls /dev/sd*

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