With normal encryption methods, you can protect your data, but you still have to decrypt a
file manually every time you want to use it. Also, many editors and viewers have a habit of
creating temporary files. The decrypted data can end up in these files,
and they are not safely deleted when the program exits. This means that this data can easily
be accessed by everyone who manages to get at your hard disk.
Disk encryption programs encrypt your entire hard disk or a a special partition, so that
you don't have to worry about leaving the decrypted messages on your disk. The approach is
similar to Stacker's disk compression program, but these packages encrypt instead.
Internal and external hard drives are of course not the only think that can be encrypted these days,
so can any removeable storage media: Syquest cartridge, Zip disk, Jazz disk, floppy disks, Flash Memory PCMCIA Cards, etc.
PASSPHRASE SECURITY is essential as is the type of ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM.
Linux
TCFS - Transparent Cryptographic File System
is similar to Crypto File System below, but TCFS is file and not directory-oriented. Each file can be encrypted separately.
Linux Encryption HOWTO
Unix
Crypto File System
An encrypted file system for Unix. It runs as a user-mode NFS server on the local machine,
and passes any requests to the remote machine over an encrypted channel.
DOS/Windows/NT
Secure FileSystem
is a standard DOS device driver-based encryption system. It can create up to five encrypted volumes which are encrypted using IDEA. Also has several other useful
options, like a hotkey to quickly unmount an encrypted volume. You can also download Secure FileSystem directly.
BestCrypt
for Windows 95 is a disk encryption program similar to SFS and SD, but which is designed for Windows '95.
seNTry 2020
(formerly Shade) for Windows NT 4.0 A Kernel-mode driver which uses containers as virtual
volumes encrypted using MDC/SHA. Supports all NT filesystems. Commercial software, a 21
-day trial version is available from the website.
PGP Disk for Windows 95/98/NT PGP Disk is a program that lets you
create encrypted
disk partitions using CAST.
PGP Disk Bug - During a recent review of PGPdisk for Windows, we discovered a problem that weakens the
cryptographic strength of any PGPdisk volumes created with PGPdisk for Windows 1.0 and the
version PGPdisk that shipped with PGP 6.0 for Windows. This flaw resides in the PGPdisk code
and does not affect any other portion of PGP, only PGPdisk for Windows.
This problem has been corrected in PGP Version 6.0.2 which, when installed, searches the
user's disks for PGPdisk volumes encrypted with an earlier version of PGPdisk, and offers to
re-encrypt them with a new session key using a corrected implementation of CAST. Volumes
created with 6.0.2 are no longer compatible with older versions of PGPdisk, but meet the high
security requirements of the PGP product line.
Macintosh
PGPdisk uses a 128-bit version of the symmetric CAST algorithm for encryption and decryption.
Newer versions are available free with PGP versions 6.02i and 6.51i.
Earlier, PGP Disk versions 1.0 was a stand-alone program, but has been integrated with PGP software package.
PGPdisk is included with PGPfreeware 6.0.2i, which you can download here:
As of version 6.5, PGPdisk is not longer included with the PGP freeware versions.
If you want PGPdisk 6.5 or later, you are required to buy one of the
commercial versions.
Also PGP Disks created with newer versions may have problems being backwards compatible. In others words PGP Disks created with a newer
version of PGP Disk may not be opened by older versions of the PGP Disk Utility (We are in the process of doing some more testing).
Cryptdisk 1.21
A older disk encryption program for the Macintosh by Will Price this program enventually developed into PGPDisk.
It creates files which can be mounted as if they were hard disks on your desktop. Uses IDEA algorithm to encrypt the
files. You can download the program from a FTP site from above link in Finland or
from Hacktic
in the Netherlands.
