an alternative for True Crypt

Discussion in 'privacy technology' started by testsoso, Jan 30, 2009.

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  1. testsoso

    testsoso Registered Member

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  2. Warlockz

    Warlockz Registered Member

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    No I haven't tried it, but mabee its worth a try if you only need whole disk encryption, It doesn't look like it creates encrypted containers ect

    I think I will stick with PGP for disk encryption and Truecrypt for encrypted containers, many people try to say PGP has a backdoor but I have yet to find a case, where the gov has actually cracked it, their stuck with thousands of drives that just sit in evidence cabinets and they have yet to figure out a way to crack the passwords, If a backdoor was implemented I'm sure it would have already been made public, with proof of the incident at hand, being that the user used a secure password that would be virtually impossible to crack in a short period of time!

    Now I have heard of them installing a Keylogger,(not to hard for them being their keyloggers are white listed in most of the protection software out their, You can call BS, but it will always remain the same, nobody has any proof, just opinions) or using the cold ram trick where they keep the ram cold so they can get the keys, and use them to open the drive or container!

    If the gov does have access to some kind of backdoor supposedly implemented in PGP, you wouldn't really have anything to worry about unless it was an issue of national security, but then the terrorists have made their own Encryption software, so this may change in the near future?
     
  3. tinchote

    tinchote Registered Member

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    Interesting! I'm using Truecrypt on several computers, and I've been worried for a while that all my data depends on one software.
     
  4. badjoey

    badjoey Registered Member

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    pgp is safe warlock.there was a case about 18 months ago involving a high level mafia boss and the fbi wanted access to his computer and they found out he was running pgp so they had to istall some secret keylogger that the fbi has and apparently they will not reveal any info about this keylogger,but according to the article once the keylogger was installed they than got his passphrase.an expert at the trial testified that had they noit been able to install this keylogger than they would never have gotten in.
    so i hope that makes you feel better. i personally use either bestcrypt or steganos both which are also very top line encryption platforms and to this day i have never heard of either been compromised except for the stupidity of the person using them.we are all our own worst enemy.
     
  5. caspian

    caspian Registered Member

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    Is that the type of encryption that Crytosuite uses?
     
  6. Long View

    Long View Registered Member

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    Has anyone found a combination of whole disk encryption and imaging that works ? will try DiskCryptor. Couldn't find anyway to use True Crypt and make an image. DriveCrypt Plus Pack does work with Acronis but couldn't get it to work with Shadow Protect and imaging was just too slow. Encrypting a drive or partition is a god idea but imaging has to be easy and quick as well.
     
  7. LockBox

    LockBox Registered Member

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    You can try hardware-based encryption. I recently bought a brand new 8GB Kingston Secure DTSP USB flash drive, which usually goes for around $200, for only $75 (!) on eBay. It was brand new, still sealed in the retail package. The guy had over a dozen left when I bought mine, so that's a possibility. I even called Kingston after I received it and verified it's not a counterfeit. I LOVE IT. Of course that won't cut it for huge storage needs, but the hardware based encryption means no admin rights needed, etc. and it's fasst.

    PGP is another good choice.
     
  8. Long View

    Long View Registered Member

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    Thanks 8 gb would be fine for C: but as you say not really an option for data.
     
  9. caspian

    caspian Registered Member

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    Is PGP a brand of encryption or a method? Can you recommend a website?
     
  10. ZeroBits

    ZeroBits Registered Member

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  11. KookyMan

    KookyMan Registered Member

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    TrueCrypt and Acronis have worked together in the past.... You just want to back up from within windows, not outside, otherwise your backup image will be huge.
     
  12. Long View

    Long View Registered Member

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    I think that backing up this way ( from within windows) results in an image which is not encrypted when restored. To remain encrypted it has to be done from outside sector by sector.
     
  13. LockBox

    LockBox Registered Member

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    That's exactly right. I just mentioned in another thread that I use full disk encryption on my laptop, but use Paragon Drive Image PE, which works great with Truecrypt when decrypted and within Windows. I then take the image (which is unprotected) and put it on an external drive (that drive being wholly encrypted, of course). In case of trouble, I just put the image back on and re-encrypt. In my personal experience, I have found bare metal imaging and recovery that includes the encryption very hit and miss. The other solution works great for me.
     
  14. Long View

    Long View Registered Member

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    Thanks Gerard - will have to try again. some programs do take a long time to encrypt so having to re-encrypt C: every time ( numerous times a month on some machines) put me off. also one program I tested required a new CD to be burned each time - which was another pain.

    what ever happens many in business will soon have no choice but to use whole drive encryption for C: as well as D: and imaging companies will have to seriously address this issue. Data protect, litigation and compliance will only get worse.
     
  15. box750

    box750 Registered Member

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    PGP is great software for whole disk encryption and I highly doubt it cant be cracked by big brother because there has been some high profile cases involving major suspected crimes and a whole disk encrypted disk with PGP that could not be cracked by LEA and the suspect walked away.

    That probably explains why in the United Kingdom it is punished with prison not to reveal your password to your encrypted hard disk to the authorities when requested.

    These kind of laws, requiring you to reveal the password, put PGP in disavantadge and give the edge to Truecrypt and DriveCrypt Plus Pack, both of which allow you to hide one operating system inside another operating system, being able to facilitate a password in case of being forced to do so.

    Even at the border Customs can give you a big headache if you do not reveal the password for your laptop, in these days and age any whole disk encryption software should allow for the possibility of denying the existance of encrypted data.
     
  16. Pleonasm

    Pleonasm Registered Member

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  17. CaixFang

    CaixFang Registered Member

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    Not to bump for no reason, but the Maxtor Black Armour hardware encryption external USB drives are selling for $50-$60 for 160gb these days if you can find them. I picked one up at Frys the other day, but I havent played with it much. I dont know how secure the "hardware chip" structure really is on these drives tho....

    Anyone have any real experience in the security of HW Encrypted HDD's?

    There are some pretty neat offerings out there, some that even use RFID or secure hardware keys + passphrase for both internal and external drives, but the costs on those are through the roof.
     
  18. LockBox

    LockBox Registered Member

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    I have a Black Armor and like it a lot. But, you can't beat the portability of the IronKey or Kingston DTSP or their newer DTVP. Putting 8GB's in your pocket and it being hardware encrypted is nice. The coprocessing done with the hardware chip is safer than software encryption as nothing is ever written to memory. I have a DTSP from Kingston and just recently (like last week) bought a brand new DTVP "Vault" from the same seller on eBay for $75; and here I was close to buying the same thing at NewEgg for $200.00. I love all of them, I just really like the portability of the small flash drives. It's amazing what you can stick on 8GB!

    One thing I don't like about the 320GB Maxtor Black Armor is they make you register/activate it with the serial number. That set off all kinds of bells with me. It's nice, but that kind of took the shine.
     
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