Hacklog Volume 1 Anonymity: it security & Ethical Hacking Handbook

7.3 Disk Encryption
Data encryption can be applied to an entire disk or part of it; this feature is
available on any operating system.
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On Windows, it’s the BitLocker technology.
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On macOS/OS X, you need to create an encrypted partition.
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Usually,  on  GNU/Linux  the  feature  is  called  Whole  Disk  Encryption  or
Full Disk Encryption
Just like the client-level encryption, if you lose your key (passphrase) there
are  no  chances  of  retrieving  it;  you  can  only  format  the  disk  and  install  a  new
OS. Since you may need to encrypt portions or entire partitions to be used across
multiple Operating System, we will focus on a cross-platform software, which is
System-agnostic and capable of managing different technologies.
7.3.1 TrueCrypt
TrueCrypt  wrote  part  of  the  IT  encryption  history,  being  the  first-born  of  a
software lineage which introduced the average users to the full disk encryption
without being IT engineers. This project has been abandoned in 2014, with the
end  of  Windows  XP  support,  but  it’s  still  available  for  who  needs  the  related
program  versions.  Luckily,  we  can  use  an  array  of  forks  which  resolved  its
restrictions  and  issues,  but  I  wished  to  dedicate  a  paragraph  to  the  possibilities
offered by TrueCrypt and its new iterations:
• Allows to encrypt entire partitions
•  Allows  to  create  two  partitions:  if  you  are  forced  to  unlock  the  disk,  you
can  access  one  partition  using  one  password,  while  the  second  partition  will
require another password.
•  Supports  the  hardware  acceleration  offered  by  the  next  generation  CPUs
features

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• Supports three encryption algorithms: AES, Serpent and Twofish. You can
also mix them.
Before we proceed, some general caveats and recommendations; they won’t
apply for all cases, but you must consider every possibility:
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Never defrag and index encrypted volumes, since they could leave traces in
the system logs
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Never  use  journaled  file  systems,  instead  choose  file  systems  without
journaling (ex., FAT32, exFAT or ext2)
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Use the complete formatting, non use any fast option
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When you open files, remember they’ll be stored in the RAM and in temp
folders:  remove  them  once  you’re  done  (especially  when  you  are  not  using  a
Live OS)
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In any case, take all the necessary precautions to protect the device you’re
using (no Internet, updated system, protections in place, etc.)
7.3.2 Veracrypt
Available  for  all  the  major  OSs  and  backwards  compatible  with  Truecrypt,
Veracrypt
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 is  without  any  doubt  the  go-to  application.  The  program  is  quite
user-friendly and easy to use.

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7.3.2.1 Installing Veracrypt
Just for the other topics, we will skip the installation stage on Windows and
macOS, since it’s quite a no-brainer; installing it on GNU/Linux, however, is not
very  hard  but  we  recommend  you  to  strictly  follow  these  steps.  Firstly,
download
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the tar.bz2 file for the GNU/Linux version (currently, v1.19). Open
the terminal and go to the Downloads folder:
$ cd $HOME/Downloads
extract the package using the command:
$ tar xjf veracrypt-1.19-setup.tar.bz2
Now, you will have 4 files: identify the ones containing the term “gui” in the
name. Then, install the program:
$ su
$ bash veracrypt-1.19-setup-gui-x86
Choose between the x86 and x64 version. If you don’t know your Operating
System architecture (remember, x86 means 32-bit processors, while x64 means
64-bit), you can use this command:
$ hostnamectl
If you still have doubts about which one to install, always prefer the x86 (it’s
compatible with x64 processors, but slower).
7.3.2.2 Using Veracrypt
Let’s  how  we  can  use  Veracrypt,  creating  a  partition  or  a  container  to  store
all our most important files, hidden from everyone else.
1)
     
In  order  to  create  the  first  container,  choose  one  of  the  available  slots,
click  the  Create  Volume  button,  then  choose  between  creating  a  container  and