Laptop Encryption - Comments Page 1

In my opinion, the easiest implementation of laptop encryption is TrueCrypt

http://www.truecrypt.org/

Yes truecrypt. Absolutely free and in my experience better tha PGP as it has a few extra features such as an option of 2 passwords for each file, 1 to hide the important info and 1 that opens not so important data. Also it leaves no evidence of being an encrypted file as pgp does. Only encrypt what is necessary and name it as a jpg, mp3 or an avi file depending on the size. This will speed up border crossings.

Kewl... but when you enter the USA and many other countries and they want to SEE what you have on your laptop, you either give them the password that UNlocks everything for their viewing pleasure OR they can just confiscate your laptop... maybe forever... and the inspection is done out of your sight (you may be in a detention room, all blue and stainless steel) and they can also install program(s) that will "call home" in case they want to see what else you do with your lappy... Altho I don't have any "secrets", just to have my right to privacy in my papers violated offends me. So encrypt all you want for your fellow office folks, but it doesn't work for TSA.

In addition to TrueCrypt, I've been "playing" with Sophos' Free Encryption: http://www.sophos.com/products/free-tools/sophos-free-encryption.html

In this day and age it helps to think ahead. I travel extensively and my entire boot drive is encrypted using TrueCrypt plus all sensitive data is also encrypted using the hidden partition aluded to earlier. Before I cross a border I boot up the old laptop and then put it to sleep or into hibernation so when I need to open it I simply hit the power button and "poof" there is a working system. Not once have I had to go further than this. Now it also helps when crossing a border to have everything at your finger tips so YOU don't cause unnecessary delays which tends to irk most border guards. Make them wait needlessly and they just may reciprocate.

Encrypting laptop drives with Truecrypt works flawlessly. Steve Gibson from grc.com did a podcast on the truecrypt whole disk encryption, which was very informative. He also conducted some disk performance tests, which showed that Truecrypt volumes provide higher data thruput than a native drive. He attributed the performance gain to low-level drivers that are written better than the native Windows drivers.
I highly recommend the solution.

I used Truecrypt...until it hosed my partition. Fortunately, I use an excellent backup system, and was able to restore everything. Software encryption is not particularly useful, as a single glitch (such as ever-ubiquitous static electricity) can hose your entire hard drive, as it did my Windoze partition. Hardware encryption is equally inconvenient, but for a different reason. What if you lose the device (a card or actual key for examples) that decrypts your system?

Ergo: encryption security is *false* security. Fear of terrorism is simply an *excuse* for our gov't to acquire more and more highly personal data from harmless citizens. Today, it's the airports...tomorrow: trains, buses, and maybe even elevators. Ford help us all!

Bob, You mentioned TPM but you didn't tell anyone what TPM means! Might make for a good geekly update....

EDITOR'S NOTE: Sorry, TPM is Trusted Platform Module. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_Platform_Module

Bob, You mentioned some windows encryption software. What about the new encryption feature offered when you install Ubuntu 9.10 (home folder encryption)?

I recommend AlertBoot Full Disk Encryption, it works great , you can see it at alertboot.wordpress.com and its only $12.95/month and easy to install

The Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is part of Trusted Computing. Trusted Computing is supposed to make your data secure. Secure to who? Not you. Don't use Trusted Platform Modules or Trusted Computing. Stay away from them.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Also, don't eat clams.

Hi, I thought I was doing the right thing by encrypting important files on my laptop, I used the windows encryption. Now my laptop is damaged, I can get the hard drive but I cannot open the files that I encrypted, is there any way around this?

EDITOR'S NOTE: It's hard to answer without knowing what version of Windows you had, and which encryption method was used.