Suggest a suitable TrueCrypt like software

Discussion in 'privacy technology' started by zafzal, Nov 24, 2013.

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  1. zafzal

    zafzal Registered Member

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    Hi, so I recently used TrueCrypt for protecting my data (around 500GB). I had originally intended to make a 1TB virtual container for that reason but accidentally made a 10TB container (yea 10TB!). I started using it thinking it wouldnt be a big issue as it was a dynamic volume and would only occupy space equal to its contents! NO! apparently u cannot later shrink the volume size it just keeps inflating even if no contents in it. I do not have a 10TB storage space to waste on 500GB of files thats just way too much overhead. However not all is lost yet. The said container currently occupies around 650GB of space when I've now set it to read-only so its no longer inflating as rapidly as before but i also cannot use it much anymore either.

    I need advice on what is the best solution/software for protecting my data which also allows some flexibility like like what i am trying to do:

    Quickly/seamless adding/removing encrypting of files!
    Mounting "container" as a drive for sharing over (secured home) network!
    Maximum compatibility (I use 90% windows systems rarely Linux).
    Prefer free and fast-and-east-to-use software with friendly GUI.
    Does not occupies too much extra space.
    Is extendable and movable (like a container).

    I have a 2TB USB HDD that i am willing to dedicate for this purpose but in that case i do not like how TrueCrypt's fully encrypted drives/partitions show up in windows as RAW partitions and windows quickly prompts you to format it for use (very high risk of that happening). I also own a WD 500GB Essentials thats encrypted as well by using WD Software which shows up as a virtual CD drive that unlocks the main part of the USB-HDD. Never had any issues with that. However the 2TB drive did not come with this feature as it is WD Elements mainly because I did not want to have the option to encrypt either whole 2TB or nothing at all!

    Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions!
    (I just hope TrueCrypt starts supporting reduction in volume max size and deflating/shrinking volume size! but i dont suppose encryption allows that easily)
     
  2. zafzal

    zafzal Registered Member

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  3. chiraldude

    chiraldude Registered Member

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    TrueCrypt can be useful and works just fine for many people. It is not the most friendly for novice users. I would even go so far as to say that a newbie user should not be using hidden volumes or system encryption.

    Here is a good starter list of TC alternatives but, beware, any encryption puts your data at risk. Make a backup copy of anything important before you start!

    http://www.techshout.com/alternatives/2013/28/truecrypt-alternatives/
     
  4. Keatah

    Keatah Registered Member

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    What would be recommended for encrypting just certain folders out of many? Maybe like 10 out 50 or so more or less.
     
  5. HopelesslyFaithful

    HopelesslyFaithful Registered Member

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    sorry but wondering if you could save me some time....out of those which support cascading encryptions? AES-Twofish-Serpent and what not? So which has the best encryption protection? I refuse to do any type of encryption without it being cascading. Also what others support keyfiles? I know a lot of people that use AES disk crypter or whatever but it isn't strong enough in my eyes.

    Basically what 1 or 2 of those are the best in encryption...otherwise the rest are useless to be honest.

    Also it has to do file containers as well.

    To me from that list this appears to be the ony contender if i am not mistaken:
    bestcrypt...is it even opensource or trustworthy? I know truecrypt is up in air due to not actually being recently verified but still...closed source is well troublesome.
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2013
  6. chiraldude

    chiraldude Registered Member

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    I don't know of any encryption software that has been verified, recently or otherwise. What exactly do you mean by "verified" anyway?
    As far as I know, no encryption software has been verified publicly. Closed source vendors may claim their code has been reviewed but the details of the review are not fully revealed.
    I know why people are skeptical about Truecypt. The developers are so ridiculously reclusive but is it really that scary trusting Truecrypt as much as any of the others?
    At least Truecrypt has a review process underway and the compiled binaries have been verified to be from the published source code.
     
  7. explanoit

    explanoit Registered Member

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    This is a subject I could write on for an hour, but:

    As someone that has had to implement full disk encryption on a corporate network with super expensive commercial software, I still only trust TrueCrypt and BitLocker on Windows.

    Call me stupid, but I trust BitLocker to function correctly. There is no indication that there is a backdoor for it and if there was it wouldn't be wasted on normal criminals anyway.
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2013
  8. HopelesslyFaithful

    HopelesslyFaithful Registered Member

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    oh i use truecrypt but i want another one of top of it...for every truecrypt container i want to have it also encrypted by something else.

    I have a thread briefly explaining the concept of my external data hardrive and i want to add another type of program so it has some variety.

    scratch that making picture in paint
    http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/8017/tnfi.png

    This way two different programs of encryption and 6 layers of AES-twofish-serpent need to be broken to reach just 1 of 9 possible locations.

    I want something that can be safe for a good decade or more before i have to worry someone accessing my stuff. Plus i have a lot more added to making it a bloody nightmare
     
  9. chiraldude

    chiraldude Registered Member

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    I think I understand your goal which is to render a back door in any 1 piece of software useless but.... Who's nightmare is this?
    Is this purely an academic exercise or are you actually going to use it?
     
  10. HopelesslyFaithful

    HopelesslyFaithful Registered Member

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    i plan on using it. I only plan on using this extent for my monthly back ups and long term storage. I'll use something similar for other things but not as complex.

    It will only take maybe a day to create...plus a few days pondering ways to fortify it and how to generate the passwords.


    question...if i use 5 d20 and 1 d6 dice...or whatever....will that give me completely random code? figure i roll once for each char and 40-80 times for each password? I rather not use a random generator since that could be tracked and recorded plus they use an algorithm but would die give me a truly random code? or close enough?
     
  11. chiraldude

    chiraldude Registered Member

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    Tracked and recorded? If someone can track and record the output of your pw generator, couldn't they track and record the password(s) as you use/input them during the encryption?
    Rolling dice can just as well be tracked with a camera.
    What are your plans for storing the encryption sequence and passwords? Forgetting or loosing a single character in a pw or mixing up steps in the sequence means your data is lost forever.
     
  12. HopelesslyFaithful

    HopelesslyFaithful Registered Member

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    already have the password memory/location down.

    If i go online and use a random number generator someone can easily see that if watching...granted if i went through the VM-3VPN-TOR route others talk about i could be safe but what if that password gen is a rigged site? It could keep logs and the algorithm used to generate the "random" number could be know which is a huge vulnerability right?

    Hence why i asked if the dice idea would actually work and be random. You says some hacker or government agency doesn't run the random number generator site or has access to it? Seems dumb to trust it

    BTW it is true someone could have spyware or malware or back door to my PC hence why i plan on using one of my old laptops as my secure system that is fresh install and clean for adding and removing files. At least a little safer if it never touches the Internet. I'll probably see if VM would be useful for it. I only need to do it once a month so it isn't much work...if that
     
  13. chiraldude

    chiraldude Registered Member

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    Obviously I would never use a password generator that lived in the cloud! I would be surprised if it was not logged.
    How about this:
    Encrypt some random data using some simple encryption. Type in random keys without looking for the password. AES, Blowfish, Twofish, doesn't really matter, the output will be very random. Convert this to a text string. Filter out invalid ASCII codes as needed.
     
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