Disk Encryption not so good....

[[JiF]Mike]

Research paper came out today about a new way to break that disk encryption. It's kinda scary..not to hard to defend against if you do the right things, but I thought others might be interested. The writers made a little video, it's an easy video to follow even for people with little computer knowledge. I know I will be changing my habits a little.


Article: http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-987606 ... g=nefd.top

[[JiF]Sly Gambit]

I'm not sure this is news. Pretty sure that's why most gov't and sensitive institutions require usb/card reader/etc. tokens that contain the encryption key and software on startup prior to loading any OS.

[[JiF]Mike]

Yes, but the point is that the key is stored in memory. So when the PC is locked or in standby it is still possible to get the key and unlock the data. They are saying no simple way to protect data...but I disagree... I think it depends on the software. I use the open source TrueCrypt, and I just dismount the drives now when I don't need them. TrueCrypt has said all keys are removed from memory when the drives are dismounted, so this attack shouldn't be possible. It's actually a pretty serious problem as it's really rather easy to do.

[[JiF]Sly Gambit]

Well for the record anyone who keeps sensitive information on a laptop or other portable drive is just asking for getting fired. The myth that 'encryption' gives complete protection for information was debunked in WWII with Engima. It's just there to delay someone from accessing that information.

[[JiF]Mike]

We could debate this for a long time, and neither one of us would be totally in the 'right'. My only point in this post was to let others know of this threat. It's a unfortunate fact that sensitive data must be stored on laptops now-a-days and all we can do is our best to protect that data.