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hard disk encryption

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See also: security | cryptography | Encrypting Your... | Cryptography/Attacks | Undelete Attack

AKA: Volume Encryption

A secure container file on a disk, meant to hide information that, when opened with a password, is treated as a separate disk (for instance the H:\ drive). This is preferable to normal file encryption as the operations of encryption and decryption are transparent to the user.

This software is popular on laptops, which are often stolen and can carry sensitive financial information.

How it works

Hard Disk Encryption programs run a memory-resident program is in the background, acting as an interpreter between the container file and the rest of the computer. Without the memory resident program and password, the file is indistiguishable from random data.

If the program is shut down, hard drive is removed suddenly, or system turned off, the volume is secure depending on the underlying filesystem. These days, filesystems support journaling and atomic writes hence this is of little concern.

Most implementations are vulnerable to dictionary attacks though. Also, if the source is not open, one is arguably more vulnerable because it is not known to the public how the program exactly works. It could be backdoored.

Software

Windows

Recommended:

  1. TrueCrypt [1] - Excellent software. Free, open source, based on E4M. Provides two-level plausible deniability (including hidden volumes). Encrypts partitions, devices (USB memory sticks, etc.) or creates encrypted file-hosted containers. Supports Windows XP/2000/2003 and GNU/Linux. AES-256, Triple DES, Twofish, Serpent, Blowfish-448, CAST5, and cascades of multiple algorithms (e.g. AES + Twofish). Fast, reliable, and stable. iA testing shows this software to be the best free, open source program so far.
  2. Cyptainer LE - easy-to-use, nag-free commercial software but with a size limit of 25 megs. Negatively, runs as a system service even when not enabled. Advanced users with administrative access may wish to set to the system service to "Manual" under "Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Services".
  3. Bestcrypt - proprietary program similar to Truecrypt. Windows and Linux versions, very stable, doesn't appear to lose data over an extended period. Modules for all major encryption algorithms. Finland (not USA) origins.
  4. SafeGuard Easy - Commercial versions for Windows. Encrypts the entire disk with pre-boot authentication
  5. SafeGuard PrivateDisk - Commercial versions for Windows Personal and Enterprise Edition (with centralized management for enterprise customers)
  6. PGP Disk 6.0.1 - A free but problematic program for Windows and Macintosh OS 8 and 9, taken from an old version of commercial PGP. Must install on an NTFS-only format disk or may restrict users to the 583d FAT file system and require short file names (FAT32 will not work). If so, use zip files to avoid losing long file names.
  7. CrossCrypt - Free Software, open-source implementation of AES and Twofish for Windows 2000/XP. Compatible with Linux AES/Twofish. Requires some command-line interaction or download of a GUI Front-End: CrossCryptGUI
  8. FreeOTFE - Free Software similar to TrueCrypt, encrypts partitions, devices (USB memory sticks, etc.) or creates encrypted file-hosted containers. Supports "hidden" volumes. Supoprts backup of critical information needed to restore volumes. Linux compatibility (both Cryptoloop "losetup", and dm-crypt). Tested under Windows 2K/XP (should work with Windows 2003). Currently in Beta.
  9. E4M - Encryption for the Masses. Freeware product (no longer being developed) for Windows NT.
  10. Dekart Private Disk - AES encryption, flexible and easy to use - Shareware - 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP. Allows securing hard disks and USB flash disks, runs from USB disk with no host PC installation. Provides innovative Disk Firewall mechanism - protecting access to the encrypted disk application by application. Disk firewall allows creating a white list of applications allowed to access the encrypted disk making sure that no trojans or any spyware will harm the secured data. Encrypted Disk Firewall - additional protection of confidential information
  11. The Bat! Private Disk - Shareware, (appears to be the same or similar to Dekart Private Disk). AES on-the-fly encryption. Super fast, easy to use. Size Limit: 2GB for Windows 95/98/ME and up to 4TB for Windows NT/2000/XP. A Google search showed that this software has not been reviewed by any outside shareware service.
  12. PGP Disk 8.0 - commercial version for Windows and OS X
  13. Scramdisk (free for Windows 9x but not the Windows NT series (2000, XP, etc).
  14. SFS - Outdated, free, secure File System for DOS/Windows. Requires some configuration. Has not been updated since September of 1996.
  15. DriveCrypt - commercial software for Windows
  16. CryptoExpert 2004 PE - A highly-rated commercial disk encryption tool. A professional version also available.


Notes about Windows security:
  1. Native Folder Encryption: Although Windows XP Professional and possibly some versions of Windows 2000 provide folder encryption with NTFS filesystems, they should be considered only a very basic solution. The Window's native encryption is far easier to bypass than the software listed below. (See: Windows XP.)
  2. Hard Disk Encryption is not the only solution to data security in Windows:
  1. One of the most important parts is clearing the pagefile on shutdown to delete information you only thought was located in your encrypted volumes. Editing your registry is one option and XP-antispy is another. Doing so may slow the shutdown process but but will also improve overall system speed.
  2. Software for cleaning up Windows entirely such as Window Washer or other items.


  1. Also see file wipe for similar tools.


Mac OS

  1. PGP Disk 6.0.1 - Free for Windows and Mac OS 8+, taken from an old version of commercial PGP.
  2. PGP Disk 8.0 - commercial version for Windows and OS X


Note: S X version 10.3+ allows for integrated encryption of one's home directory.

For UNIX-like systems

  1. TrueCrypt - Free, open-source, based on E4M. Provides two-level plausible deniability (including hidden volumes). Encrypts partitions, devices (USB memory sticks, etc.) or creates encrypted file-hosted containers. Supports Windows XP/2000/2003 and Linux. AES-256, Triple DES, Twofish, Serpent, Blowfish-448, CAST5, and cascades of multiple algorithms (e.g. AES + Twofish). Fast, reliable, and stable. iA testing shows this software to be the best free, open source program so far.
  2. Crypto File System (an encrypting file system for Unix-like OSs) -- The FS code dates back to 1989, and the crypto to 1992.
  3. Bestcrypt - proprietary program, see description under Windows version.
  4. CryptoAPI The GNU/Linux Crypto API
  5. StegFS - a steganographic file system for Linux. More than just encryption, also allows one to hide (parts of) data. Be aware that only using StegFS doesn't provide a secure hiding, additional precautions should be taken; see the FAQ on the site. Currently for Linux 2.2 only.
  6. TCFS - Transparent Cryptographic File System is a transparent filesystem for both transparent local and transparent network encryption. It is supported by Linux 2.0/2.2, NetBSD and OpenBSD -- Has not been updated since late 2002.
  7. EncFS - User-space encrypted filesystem implementation for Linux 2.4 & 2.6. It has some advantages over other implementations, namely the dynamic size. Other (dis)advantages are stated on the homepage as well as a comparison between EncFS and other encrypted filesystem implementations on site.
  8. Loop-AES - Uses AES to encrypt partitions under GNU/Linux. Fairly simple and effective. No real homepage, so try http://sourceforge.net/projects/loop-aes
  9. dm-crypt - CryptoLoop's successor. For Linux.
  10. cgd - cryptographic device driver for NetBSD. Unlike other implementations, not vulnerable to dictionary attacks. Here is a extensive PDF article concerning CGD by the authors.
  11. vncrypt - FreeBSD container encryption - Uses AES-Rijndael encryption in CBC mode. Utilizes FreeBSDs vnode pseudo disk device support. Is available through the ports collection.
  12. GEOM Based Disk Encryption (gbde) FreeBSD encryption - encrypts the sector payload using 128-bit AES in CBC mode. Each sector on the disk is encrypted with a different AES key. gbde transparently encrypts entire file systems. Mounts just like another drive. View the FreeBSD handbook for instructions.
  13. vnconfig under OpenBSD to configure a svnd (pseudo-drive) encrypted with Blowfish.


Related

  1. steganography
  2. file wipe


Related Links

  1. Open Directory Project - Hard Disk Encryption
  2. Several papers about CryptFS. Dated from '92 till '03.
  3. Encrypted Root Filesystem HOWTO: using strong encryption to secure your root filesystem on Linux.
This article is based on a public domain infoAnarchy article: Hard_Disk_Encryption iA
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