Drive Encryption Tools

Drive encryption tools disguise the data on an entire hard disk or a disk partition. The encryption can be performed with either software tools or with encryption hardware that might be on the disk itself. You may encrypt the entire hard disk, called full drive encryption, which includes boot sectors and the master boot records.

Drive encryption involves every single bit of the data that is to be written to a disk or disk partition. It safeguards and prevents unauthorized use of the data. The legitimate users are allowed to access the data by entering a password at the beginning of a session and can access the data for the entire session. However, if a malicious user tries to access the disk, it will not be possible to extract the data without having a password. This prevents unauthorized use of data.

Differences Between File Encryption and Drive Encryption

File encryption refers to encrypting files and then storing them on the hard disk. Disk or drive encyrption refers to encrypting the entire disk contents without worrying about the number of files on the disk. Sometimes, both the encryption methods are used to increase the level of data security. If a hacker gains control of the system at runtime, he may be able to access contents of the hard disk if only drive encryption is used. In such a situation, file encryption will help to provide an additional layer of security to prevent the hacker from accessing file data.

Usefulness of Drive Encryption

Drive encryption can be very useful especially for laptops and removable disks, such as USB drives. For a business that invests heavily on its internal and external network security, drive encryption is an additional method of securing data on disks. Since many users and employees take data outside the corporate network, it becomes important to safeguard it. Even if a device, such as a company laptop or USB drive, is lost, the data is still protected as the entire disk contents are encrypted. This helps to prevent potential losses due to theft of devices.

Sometimes, there are multiple hidden partitions on the disk which can be accessed with different passwords. If a hacker obtains control of the disk with a single password, only part of the disk contents are accessible and this prevents access to other data on the disk. Even though the disk acess has been obtained, only a part of the data becomes vulnerable and this increases security.

Features of a Good Drive Encryption Tool

• Easy to install and use: An easy tool will assist novice users to learn about the software in a small amount of time and reduce the complexities involved.
• Proven encryption technologies: The encryption tool should be approved by independent experts and certification authorities. This ensures reliablity of the tool and resilience against most attacks.
• High reliability and security: The tool should maintain a high degree of security. The tool should be designed in a manner such that only legitimate users get access to data.
• Secure deletion of old data: If data needs to be removed or the disk needs to be erased, the encryption tool should allow successful deletion in a manner that would makes data recovery impossible for potential hackers.
• Provision for hidden volume and operating system: In a situation where the user is forced to reveal the password to a drive, hidden volumes protect the user data even when the main password is revealed. If there are multiple partitions with a different password for each partition. In case a single password is revealed, only limited data is available and the rest is hidden.

Popular Drive Encryption Tools

• TrueCrypt : An open source tool that allows inexperienced users to create small secure partitions on the system.
• CheckPoint Full Disk Encryption : This tool provides a transparent and automatic security for all user data, operating system data and temporary and erased files.

Security Issues

Several disk encryption technologies are vulnerable to a "cold boot attack," which allows a hacker to recover encryption keys by cold-booting a computer with an operating system and reading the contents of its memory by using the data retention property of computer memory. Additionally, encryption keys can be obtained using keyloggers and other mechanisms.