Truecrypt

In article , nospamatall
wrote:

> I didn't know there was a mac version of this. How long has that been
> available? Cool.
>
> Andy
> http://www.truecrypt.org/

According to http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=version-history, a Mac OS
X version (5.0) was made available on February 5, 2008.

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JR
 >> Stay informed about: Truecrypt 

Jolly Roger wrote:
> In article , nospamatall
> wrote:
>
>> I didn't know there was a mac version of this. How long has that been
>> available? Cool.
>>
>> Andy
>> http://www.truecrypt.org/
>
> According to http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=version-history, a Mac OS
> X version (5.0) was made available on February 5, 2008.
>

Yeah I found that in the docs eventually. Not everything is implemented
yet, but things like hidden volumes and tokens are on the way. I'll
download it and try it out on a file. Don't want to trust it with an
entire volume yet, even less a boot volume, but the PC version has been
very reliable and stable. In all it seems like an exemplary OSS project,
so high hopes!

Andy
 >> Stay informed about: Truecrypt 

In article , nospamatall
wrote:

> Jolly Roger wrote:
> > In article , nospamatall
> > wrote:
> >
> >> I didn't know there was a mac version of this. How long has that been
> >> available? Cool.
> >>
> >> Andy
> >> http://www.truecrypt.org/
> >
> > According to http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=version-history, a Mac OS
> > X version (5.0) was made available on February 5, 2008.
> >
>
> Yeah I found that in the docs eventually. Not everything is implemented
> yet, but things like hidden volumes and tokens are on the way. I'll
> download it and try it out on a file. Don't want to trust it with an
> entire volume yet, even less a boot volume, but the PC version has been
> very reliable and stable. In all it seems like an exemplary OSS project,
> so high hopes!

Yep, it does. Looks promising! I am, for obvious reasons, very
interested in whole-boot-disk encryption. Having that in Mac OS X would
rock.

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JR
 >> Stay informed about: Truecrypt 

On Wed, 6 Feb 2008 15:14:07 -0600, nospamatall wrote
(in article ):

> Jolly Roger wrote:
>> In article , nospamatall
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I didn't know there was a mac version of this. How long has that been
>>> available? Cool.
>>>
>>> Andy
>>> http://www.truecrypt.org/
>>
>> According to http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=version-history, a Mac OS
>> X version (5.0) was made available on February 5, 2008.
>>
>
> Yeah I found that in the docs eventually. Not everything is implemented
> yet, but things like hidden volumes and tokens are on the way. I'll
> download it and try it out on a file. Don't want to trust it with an
> entire volume yet, even less a boot volume, but the PC version has been
> very reliable and stable. In all it seems like an exemplary OSS project,
> so high hopes!

Since OS X already has similar capabilities built in, what's the win
from using new, untested code to (potentially) mangle data you care
enough about to encrypt?


--
Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR)
"The power of accurate observation is called cynicism by those
who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
 >> Stay informed about: Truecrypt 

In article ,
Randy Howard wrote:

> On Wed, 6 Feb 2008 15:14:07 -0600, nospamatall wrote
> (in article ):
>
> > Jolly Roger wrote:
> >> In article , nospamatall
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> I didn't know there was a mac version of this. How long has that been
> >>> available? Cool.
> >>>
> >>> Andy
> >>> http://www.truecrypt.org/
> >>
> >> According to http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=version-history, a Mac OS
> >> X version (5.0) was made available on February 5, 2008.
> >>
> >
> > Yeah I found that in the docs eventually. Not everything is implemented
> > yet, but things like hidden volumes and tokens are on the way. I'll
> > download it and try it out on a file. Don't want to trust it with an
> > entire volume yet, even less a boot volume, but the PC version has been
> > very reliable and stable. In all it seems like an exemplary OSS project,
> > so high hopes!
>
> Since OS X already has similar capabilities built in, what's the win
> from using new, untested code to (potentially) mangle data you care
> enough about to encrypt?

Mac OS X does not have the capability to encrypt entire disks, much less
boot disks.

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JR
 >> Stay informed about: Truecrypt 

Randy Howard wrote:
> On Wed, 6 Feb 2008 15:14:07 -0600, nospamatall wrote
> (in article ):
>
>> Jolly Roger wrote:
>>> In article , nospamatall
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I didn't know there was a mac version of this. How long has that been
>>>> available? Cool.
>>>>
>>>> Andy
>>>> http://www.truecrypt.org/
>>> According to http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=version-history, a Mac OS
>>> X version (5.0) was made available on February 5, 2008.
>>>
>> Yeah I found that in the docs eventually. Not everything is implemented
>> yet, but things like hidden volumes and tokens are on the way. I'll
>> download it and try it out on a file. Don't want to trust it with an
>> entire volume yet, even less a boot volume, but the PC version has been
>> very reliable and stable. In all it seems like an exemplary OSS project,
>> so high hopes!
>
> Since OS X already has similar capabilities built in, what's the win
> from using new, untested code to (potentially) mangle data you care
> enough about to encrypt?

TrueCrypt is open source, and can be examined by anyone. It's possible
apple or someone could open your disk, no way to know if that is the
case. There is less chance of someone finding a flaw and nobody else
knowing about it if the source is open. Truecrypt can encrypt your
entire boot disk, not just your home folder.

But the main thing is the windows version has the ability to make
containers, a volume within a volume, essentially hidden from view and
accessed via a different password. So you can invoke plausible
deniability by giving up a password that accesses most of your data, but
not your plans to devastate half of California with your top secret
zero-point energy death ray weapon technology. This will be coming to
mac and linux in a future version (the containers, that is...). This
alone is worth its weight in gold (does software have weight?) because
the current direction of law enforcement looks to be likely to make
other forms of encryption essentially useless. If you can be forced to
give up the keys (whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?)
then what use is encryption in the first place?

For a business or organization it's useful to be able to keep everything
encrypted at all times, as well as to be able to not give up things you
don't want even law enforcement to see. TrueCrypt keeps everything in
RAM, even the swap files etc are encrypted before being written to disk.

There's a lot more, have a look through the docs:
http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/

I know OS X has a decent system, but this to me is a better alternative
from a security point of view. And the code isn't untested, it's been
going for a long time on windows and the Mac version has been through
extensive testing by the OSS community. I wouldn't risk it yet, and some
of the features for windows are still missing, but I want to try it out
and get a feel for it. If it's as reliable as the windows version I have
no worries.

I have no need for plausible deniabilty, but there are perfectly good
people who do, and more people using such a system makes it harder for
such people to be singled out for special treatment. Also I like the
idea of not giving up every file to random snoopers at airports and
suchlike without having to enter into a fight with them over my rights,
I could just give them a password to some of my files. They're happy,
I'mm happy. It's nice to be nice!

Andy
 >> Stay informed about: Truecrypt 

In article , nospamatall
wrote:

> But the main thing is the windows version has the ability to make
> containers, a volume within a volume, essentially hidden from view and
> accessed via a different password.

How is this different from using an encrypted disk image? I'm not
saying it's the same, but from your description I don't know what the
difference might be.

--
Tom "Tom" Harrington
Independent Mac OS X developer since 2002
http://www.atomicbird.com/
 >> Stay informed about: Truecrypt 

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In article ,
Lewis wrote:

> In article
> ,
> Jolly Roger wrote:
>
> > In article , nospamatall
> > wrote:
> >
> > > I didn't know there was a mac version of this. How long has that been
> > > available? Cool.
> > >
> > > http://www.truecrypt.org/
> >
> > I would love to hear from anyone who has actually used it with Mac OS X.
>
> Why? I mean, can't you already create an encrypted disk image file on
> your Mac?

I'm talking about other features such as whole-disk encryption, and so
on. : )

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JR
 >> Stay informed about: Truecrypt 

Just found this in alt.privacy:

> nemo_outis wrote:
>> http://www.truecrypt.org/
>>
>> Regards,
>
> Anyone tried it?

I tried it, and, unlike most other pre-boot stuff, actually worked on my
trivial test machine.

However, I found a privilege escalation vulnerability from version 4.3a
being carried over, so I heavily recommend to avoid using TrueCrypt
until it's fixed.

> Is it whole disk encryption like PGP whole disk encryption?

Nah, it also allows for some kinds of dual boot configurations. And it
compiles with much less changes. And it's far more lightweight.
 >> Stay informed about: Truecrypt 

In article , nospamatall
wrote:

> Just found this in alt.privacy:
>
> > nemo_outis wrote:
> >> http://www.truecrypt.org/
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >
> > Anyone tried it?
>
> I tried it, and, unlike most other pre-boot stuff, actually worked on my
> trivial test machine.
>
> However, I found a privilege escalation vulnerability from version 4.3a
> being carried over, so I heavily recommend to avoid using TrueCrypt
> until it's fixed.

4.3 had no Mac support. So you must have tried it on a PC, right?

I'm pretty sure he meant to ask "Anyone tried it [on a Mac]?"

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JR
 >> Stay informed about: Truecrypt 

Tom Harrington wrote:
> In article , nospamatall
> wrote:
>
>> But the main thing is the windows version has the ability to make
>> containers, a volume within a volume, essentially hidden from view and
>> accessed via a different password.
>
> How is this different from using an encrypted disk image? I'm not
> saying it's the same, but from your description I don't know what the
> difference might be.
>

One of the things it will do is an encrypted disk image. It will also
encrypt an entire volume or a drive.

As far as the container is concerned, I think I used the wrong word, or
in the wrong context. The container is the first (whole) volume and it
contains another volume, that is another bunch of stuff that is only
revealed if you put in a different password (or key, or whatever),
otherwise it remains hidden.

Oh I'm not doing good job of this!
http://www.truecrypt.org/hiddenvolume.php

From the horse's mouth, so to speak.

Andy
 >> Stay informed about: Truecrypt