Re: [PLUG] Drive/Partition Encryption

["Isaac Bennetch" <bennetch@gmail.com>]

Hi,

I'm a big fan of TrueCrypt (http://www.truecrypt.org/) which allows
you to encrypt an entire partition or just create a virtual filesystem
(a single encrypted file sits on your filesystem and you mount it to
access the data). It has Linux and Windows support at the least, but
I'm not sure if it can be compiled on OSX.

I've never had trouble with uncleanly unmounting it, but I'm careful
to do so properly...I only run a virtual filesystem to keep a few
important documents (bank info, etc) locked up so I've no idea what
happens if you've got your root partition encrypted and loose power. I
would assume it's just like any 'real' partition, when you mount it,
if it wasn't cleanly unmounted, it forces an integrity check, but
again I don't have much personal experience here.

If you're hardcore about completely encrypting your filesystem,
remember that temporary files, user profile information, even the
swapfile can contain sensitive information and you might want to to
take appropriate steps to encrypt those as well.

There are a number of Linux projects/how-tos covering the topic as
well, which I'm sure Google can help you find, but since I have no
personal experience with them I won't comment on any in particular.

Good luck
~isaac

On 2/4/07, Art Clemons <artclemons@aol.com> wrote:
> I wonder if anyone has recomendations for encrypting a laptop partition.
>  I'm also interested in issues like recovery when for example a laptop
> is shutdown improperly.
>
> At any rate I don't know anyone who encrypts so I'ld really appreciate
> suggestions and information.
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