Plausible Deniabilty and Hidden Volumes

1) I know that hidden volumes are possible with TrueCrypt. What other programs could be recommended as alternatives to and superior to TrueCrypt, about which I have heard some disturbing things.

2) I know that the weakness of Hidden Volumes, or any encryption programs for that matter, is what information lurks in the Registry.

3) I am not interested in encrypting the entire OS - only certain partitions and HDD's.

I know that this question is horridly vague and very simple-minded. My apologies for that, but I am unfortunately new to this field and trust you will understand.

System: Win 7 64 bit Ultimate, ASUS motherboard, AMD 6-cores

 

I don't think that it's worth using encrypted containers in Windows. There are too many ways to fail, and there's no way to be sure. Linux, being open-source, is a better bet. But really, the best approach is using encrypted containers only in encrypted filesystems.

 

I must apologize in that for me answers tend to lead to more questions.

1) I purchased Kruptos (blowfish) and of course know how to encrypt files.

2) But how does one create "plausible deniability"?

3) Are you moving me in the direction of Linux and away from Windows for encryption? I am definitely not questioning the wisdom of that; it's just that even with 25 years of computer experience I find myself constantly learning too many new things. In short, Linux might be fun to play with but I would prefer to find a solution within Windows that A) Encrypts files and partitions B) In so doing allows for "plausible deniability".

Btw, thanks for all your help and especially for tolerating my infantile questions.

 

I'm not sure what other programs exist that do the same or superior job to TrueCrypt,.

I am curious about the "disturbing things" that you've heard about TrueCrypt. Could you be more specific?

I use TrueCrypt as a portable application, so the only registry entries are ones for the index and such. I also use an encrypted VM which contains TrueCrypt and the container. One could even go further and use a sandbox (sandboxie comes to mind) inside the VM to open up TrueCrypt if you're so worried about it.

As for plausible deniability, I'm not sure I understand. The only situation where I see a problem is one in which you are forced to be truthful and both admit that there is a hidden volume, and what password is used for that volume. That would be such an extreme case however, that no encryption or program is going to help you unless you forget any information on how to access the files. In any other case, deny that there is a hidden volume (from what I remember, there's no way to prove that one exists). That should be good enough.

 

I knew when I said this I should have provided evidence. I shall do so as soon as physically possible. My apologies.

 

An open source program that provides the same, or better functionality than TC? I know of none.

Whatever vulnerabilities you have heard about, have probably already been discussed in the TC forum, or in the manual.

I use Hidden Volumes on Windows. I agree with Mirimir, but I'm a Windows guy (I do use Linux though). I've gone through the registry and looked for TC related things and not found anything glaring. I only run 'portable' apps from it though, I don't "install" stuff there.

Since I'm on the 'Up and Up', in the worst case, my lawyer can do the explaining.

But like Mirimir said "YOU CAN NEVER BE SURE"...so if it is questionable, fully encrypt or use Hidden OS, etc... (Or Linux LUKS/VMs/Tails/yadda, yadda, yadda).

PD