Slashdot Mirror
Seeking Current Info on Linux Encrypted FS?
slick_rick asks: "I'm looking for info on encrypted file systems under Linux to help my employers company move away from Microsoft centric solutions. However the latest HOWTO is two years old, the latest kernel patch dates back to April (and 2.4.3) and even the Sourceforge project has nearly zero documentation and appears to be very dead. Are slashdotters using encrypted file systems? If so, what are your experiences?" We last talked about this topic, just
over a year ago, in this article.
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The install for SUSE version 7.2 professional had it built into the install. Select expert partitioning and it was a check box selection in the mount-point, file system type dialog box. You could edit the boot sequence to remove the prompt to mount the file system and then mount it only when you wanted it mounted. Once mounted it was visible in unencrypted form but you could un-mount anytime. Reading and writing is done via a loop back that decrypts /encrypts during read/write. It is visible as a standard file system once mounted to all programs by all users.
SUSE 7.3 has this to say http://www.suse.com/us/products/suse_linux/i386/se curity.html
Watch the space in security, comment dialog box is too small to fit url without it injecting a space.
The Rubberhose encrypted filesystem might be more suitable for individuals.
Read about it at www.rubberhose.org. It's primary feature is deniability, (from their web page)
Rubberhose is a computer program which both transparently encrypts data on a storage device, such as a hard drive, and allows you to hide that encrypted data. Unlike conventional disk encryption systems, Rubberhose is the first successful, freely available, practical program of deniable cryptography in the world. It was released in an earlier form in 1997, but has undergone significant changes since that time. The design goal has been to make Rubberhose the most efficient conventional disk encryption system, while also offering the new feature of information hiding.
Rubberhose is a type of deniable cryptography package. Deniable cryptography gives a person not wanting to disclose the plaintext data corresponding to their encrypted material the ability to show that there is more than one interpretation of the encrypted data. What deniable crypto means in the Rubberhose context is this: if someone grabs your Rubberhose-encrypted hard drive, he or she will know there is encrypted material on it, but not how much -- thus allowing you to hide the existence of some of your data.-- Too lazy to get a lower UID.