What is the best file encryption for linux?

Mike Kallies mike.kallies-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org
Thu Jul 19 14:19:08 UTC 2012


On 12-07-18 11:19 AM, Walter Dnes wrote:
>   I plan do some travelling and take along my netbook or laptop, I want
> to be able to download+send email.  Web UI sucks.  I vastly prefer
> downloading via "getmail".  The problem is that getmail's rc files have
> userid+password in plain text for each account.  The risks of losing the
> netbook/laptop are obvious.

Whole Disk Encryption is the best.  Truecrypt, dm-crypt, etc.

Your drive's HDD password may provide encryption too.  Check the
manufacturer specs.  Hitachi drives normally have encryption built-in.
A few other manufacturers do too.

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/bulk_faqs.htm

It's black-box encryption though.  To the paranoid, it only makes the
disk less valuable than the replacement cost.

Even if the drive doesn't have built-in encryption, the HDD password
alone might be all you need.  It's not easy to circumvent, but it can be
circumvented.

The advantage of these passwords is that they're quick, easy and don't
degrade performance.  Not as secure as whole-disk encryption though.

-Mike




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