Encription

[dark1]

ok short and simple sha256 is it breakable ? if so does anyone have a link or info


Method ,,,,,,,,,,,, Digest Length (bytes) ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Security

MD5 ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 16 ,,,,,,, Moderate
RIPEMD128 ,,,,,,,, 16 ,,,,,,,,,,,, Moderate
RIPEMD160 ,,,,,,, 20 ,,,,,,,,,,, High
SHA-1 ,,,,,,,,,, 20 ,,,,,,,,, High
sha256 ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 32 ,,,,,,,,,,,,, Very High
SHA384 ,,,,,,,,,, 48 ,,,,,,,,,,, Very High
SHA512 ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 64 ,,,,,,,,,,,,, Very High

[slarty]

Remember that if the relevant security services *did* want your data, they would not bother decrypting it by force.

A chain is only as strong as the weakest link, and in this case, you or your operating system are almost certainly weaker than the encryption method.

If you use something like Windows, you will have virtual memory enabled by default. Parts of your encrypted data will find their way into the swapfile, whether you like it or not. Ok, so you buy more memory and turn off swap. What then?

Common applications (like Word, etc) place bits of your file into temporary files which they litter the machine with, you can remove them, but they will be recreated next time you open the files (obviously that removal has to be done with a secure file deletion utility)

Then you're ok, right? No.

I don't have personal experience with the disc encryption software the OP mentions, but I assume it works like all the others I've used.

While you have the encrypted volume open, any program can access the data. This includes any trojan which unfriendly people may have placed on there to grab your data.

While they're at it, why don't they just install a keylogger to grab your password and anything else you might type.

If of course, you're the next Bin Laden, they probably have even better steps. Suppose they cannot get a trojan on to your machine because you are too elite (perhaps you use an operating system which cannot be trojan'd by the US government (this is very unlikely)) - they will simply covertly enter your house when you're not in and install a covert hardware keylogger, perhaps with a radio transmitter in it. Unless you open up your keyboard and examine it with a magnifying glass, you'll never notice it.

IMHO, disc encryption is mostly useful for laptops so that if your machine is physically stolen the data cannot be retrieved.

But remember, if you let that machine out of your sight for just a few minutes, anything could be on it.