Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Compiling a list of Truecrypt alternatives

With the Truecrypt project abandoned, I see a lot of clamoring in comment sections about suitable alternatives... but confusion as to what is available. This forum post is an attempt to sift through the more popular options, and provide some basic info on their capabilities. I will post audit info as well if I come across any (or if you mention it in a post).

Suggestions are welcome! I will add them to the list in the below format. You can use the template I have below, or just put in a blurb with what you know and I will add it in when I get the chance.

~~~CROSS-PLATFORM OPTIONS~~~

Trupax *Truecrypt compatible

Description: Java-based app for creating/managing truecrypt containers; built from the ground up.
License: Open-Source, LPGL3
Supported ciphers: AES-256, maybe more via command line
Encryption layer: volumes/containers
Platform Support:
  • Windows: yes
  • MacOS: yes
  • iOS: no
  • Android: no
  • Linux/Unix: yes
  • Cloud friendly?: yes
Notes:
TruPax allows you to create and extract truecrypt containers, similar to an archiving utility. It does not manage mounting of truecrypt volumes. It also only supports containers with certain formats and algorithms.


EncFS

Description:Encrypted filesystem that runs in user-space, using FUSE library and Linux kernel modules. Ports are available to other Operating Systems.
License: Open-Source, GPL
Supported ciphers: AES, Blowfish, others depending on OS
Encryption layer: file-based
Platform Support:
Audits:
Notes:
EncFS works differently from Truecrypt in that it does not encrypt and mount volumes or "containers", but instead watches a designated folder, and encrypts/decrypts the individual files as-needed using your specified key. This makes encrypted content more resistant to bitrot (as one bad bit can destroy an entire truecrypt container). It also makes for a more "cloud-friendly" encryption option, as you will be syncing only modified files and not the entire container. The tradeoff is that others can see how many files are encrypted in your folder (though not their names or contents). Many cloud-based encryption services seem to borrow from encFS in their methodology.
How to Encrypt Cloud Storage on Linux and Windows with EncFS
Blog post: EncFS & Dropbox for Linux/Android/Windows/MacOSX


dm-crypt + LUKS

Description: Linux-native disk encryption, a standard option for many Linux distributions.
License: Open-Source, GPL
Supported ciphers: aes-256, others can be compiled in
Encryption layer: block-level, can contain various filesystems
Platform Support:
  • Windows: yes, via FreeOTFE (provided filesystem is Windows-compatible)
  • MacOS: no
  • iOS: no
  • Linux/Unix: yes, native
  • Android: partial (used for OS encryption, but not available for other storage)
  • Cloud-friendly?: no
Notes:
Currently, dm-crypt has limited cross-platform support, but the FreeOTFE program would allow a Windows user to mount a dm-crypt protected thumb drive, as long as the formatting inside was windows-compatible (like Fat32). You can create a truecrypt-style virtual container in Linux via the command line, but the process is not quite as user-friendly.
Ubuntu: Encrypted Filesystems on Removable Storage
Making a Truecrypt-style container with LUKS


GnuPG (GPG)

Description: GNU implementation of PGP encryption, and a popular option for encrypting emails. Can also be used to encrypt individual files.
License: Open-Source, GPL
Supported ciphers: IDEA, 3DES, CAST5, Blowfish, AES-128/192/256, Twofish, Camellia-128/192/256
Encryption layer: file-based, text
Platform Support:
  • Windows: yes (gpg4win)
  • MacOS: yes (GPG Suite)
  • iOS: yes, for email (oPenGPiPGMail)
  • Linux/Unix: yes (seahorse, gpg, kgpg, enigmail, various mail extensions)
  • Android: yes, mostly for email (various)
  • Cloud-friendly?: yes
Notes:
There are many options across platforms for encrypting emails with PGP as well as managing keys. There is somewhat less support for encrypting and decrypting individual files on mobile devices.


AES Crypt

Description: Basic file encryption/decryption tool available on a variety of platforms.
License: none found (Free and Open Source)
Supported ciphers: AES-256
Encryption layer: file-based
Platform Support: (please indicate if support is limited or experimental)
  • Windows: yes
  • MacOS: yes
  • iOS: yes
  • Android: yes (Crypt4All)
  • Linux/Unix: yes
  • Cloud friendly?: yes
Notes:
Aes crypt is a basic file encryption/decryption tool. It is a command-line client, with GUI support provided via context menu integration (ie. right-click a file + "encrypt"). This suite would be more suitable for one-off secure file transfer, or deep storage of sensitive files. Files are not encrypted or decrypted in-place; you will be generating a new file that is encrypted/decrypted each time.


Boxcryptor

Description: A commercial offering with a focus on encrypting local files that are then synced to the cloud storage provider of your choice. Basic version is free; full versions require yearly subscription.
License: Commercial
Supported ciphers: AES-256
Encryption layer: file-based
Platform Support:
  • Windows: yes
  • MacOS: yes
  • Chrome: yes (beta)
  • iOS: yes
  • Windows Phone: yes
  • Linux/Unix: limited (only if using boxcryptor classic)
  • Android: yes
  • Blackberry 10: yes
  • Cloud friendly?: yes, all major providers + WebDAV storage
Notes:
There are actually two versions of boxcryptor- the older, "classic" version used encFS under the hood, and could even be used to decrypt existing encFS folders. The new 2.0 version uses something different that is not backwards-compatible. Version 2 also requires a user account, and keys are stored on a Boxcryptor server (enables user/group sharing of encrypted files).


Bestcrypt

Description: A commercial, cross-platform program that allows you to create and mount encrypted containers similar to Truecrypt. The software is trialware, and currently $60 to buy.
License: Commercial, closed-source
Supported ciphers: AES-256, Blowfish, CAST, GOST, 3DES, Serpent, Twofish
Encryption layer: Volume/File (encrypted containers)
Platform Support:
  • Windows: yes
  • MacOS: yes
  • Linux/Unix: yes
  • Android: no
  • iOS: no
  • Cloud friendly?: yes
Notes:
It works very similar to Truecrypt, allowing you to create virtual containers which you then mount like drives. According to its feature list, it supports "Enhanced Hidden Containers" which function similar to Truecrypt's "Hidden Volume" feature. Full disk encryption is provided by a separate product; this one focuses on containers.

~~~OS-SPECIFIC~~~

(under construction, suggestions welcome!)

~~Windows~~

Bitlocker:
  • Included on Win7 Ent/Ult, Win8 Pro/Ent
  • Provides full-disk encryption, using an implementation of AES


EFS:
  • Included on Professional versions of Windows XP, 7, 8, Server 20XX
  • Provides filesystem-level encryption of designated directories using public/private keys, via context menu
  • Private keys are encrypted and stored in a certificate manager
  • Early versions for Windows 2000 had security flaws; remediated in Windows XP and later
  • Howto: http://www.groovypost.com/howto/windows ... s-folders/

axcrypt:
  • Not really a separate program- integrates with Windows Explorer to provide context menus for file encryption, decryption, etc.
  • File-based encryption; encrypted files can be opened directly. You can also encrypt a file into a self-decrypting .exe container, so the receiving party doesn't need axcrypt (similar to a self-extracting zip archive.)

~~MacOS~~

FileVault
  • The standard option for Mac OS X; Uses an implementation of AES for encryption.
  • Allows full-disk encryption as well as protection of designated directories. Truecrypt-style encrypted "containers" can be achieved by creating disk images via Disk Utility.
  • Typically makes the user's login password the encryption passphrase.
  • Many third-party encryption utilities for Mac are really user-friendly wrappers around Filevault / Disk Utility.

Espionage
  • Commercial option for creating/managing encrypted folders.
  • If I'm reading docs correctly, it uses Disk Utility to create its encrypted containers, but it provides an easy interface to manage them with, and tighter integration with OS features like TimeMachine.

Knox
  • User-friendly interface for managing encrypted containers
  • Encrypted "vaults" are created with the FileVault back-end, and can be managed via regular OS X disk utilities. The application makes managing them simpler.


~~Linux~~

dm-crypt + LUKS:
  • Standard for most modern linux distros; Typically uses AES for encryption.
  • Block-based, offering full-disk encryption (doesn't care about what filesystem it contains). You can make a truecrypt-style container and mount it as an image, but it isn't easy or intuitive.
  • The most common file managers have GUI support for mounting/unmounting LUKS-encrypted volumes (Dolphin, Nautilus, etc)
  • There are also command-line utilities such as tomb, which act as wrappers around dm-crypt. They make creation and management of encrypted containers easier.

luksus / tcplay *Truecrypt compatible
  • luksus is a user-friendly wrapper around tcplay,cryptsetup, and some other encryption tools. It provides a menu-based GUI on the command line that automates all of the dirty work of for creating and managing truecrypt volumes, among other encryption formats.
  • file/volume based, depending on the function you use

realcrypt *Truecrypt-compatible:
  • A linux rebuild of truecrypt; literally truecrypt source with a new paint job.
  • Support everything truecrypt does. It is built as an rpm though; debian-based distributions will need to install it with alien.

ecryptfs:
  • A stacked filesystem that is kernel-supported, allowing you to designate folders to encrypt. This is the standard for Ubuntu's "encrypted home directory".
  • encryption at the filesystem level, can be applied to files or directories
  • Audit findinghttps://defuse.ca/audits/ecryptfs.htm
  • ecryptfs-utils package can help automate setup of encrypted directories.

~~Android~~

Encrypted Data Storage (EDS) *Truecrypt compatible:
  • Utility that lets you create and open truecrypt containers (contents are expanded into storage).
  • Truecrypt containers must be FAT-formatted and use supported algorithms.

Cryptonite *Truecrypt compatible:
  • utility that lets you manage encFS folders, as well as truecrypt containers.
  • Certain functions in the app require a rooted phone.
  • Has a cute message on the site saying "I haven't had any backdoor requests yet. Watch closely for the removal of the previous sentence." Clever :-)
Last edited by feistypenguin on Tue Jun 17, 2014 2:47 pm
Worth a mention, eCryptfs. (Linux specific, as far as I know)

https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/serverguide/ecryptfs.html

And especially, tcplay. (DragonFly BSD and Linux support)

https://github.com/bwalex/tc-play

Quote:
tcplay is a free (BSD-licensed), pretty much fully featured (including multiple keyfiles, cipher cascades, etc) and stable TrueCrypt implementation.
http://www.hacker10.com/encryption-soft ... -software/
EncFS seem to have serious issues in its current form according to a security audit. I would not use it as TrueCrypt replacement.

https://defuse.ca/audits/encfs.htm

I've been playing with eCryptfs this weekend, and it's something I could use daily. But it need more security audit according to security audit. I wonder what other people's verdict are on eCryptfs.

https://defuse.ca/audits/ecryptfs.htm
It's worth noting for FileVault 2 that it does full disk encryption as well, since you pointed it out for BitLocker.
Suggestions added, thanks!
Tomb seems the closest to me. Linux-only again, unfortunately. C'mon, it can't be hard to at least get it working on my Mac!
Does anyone have an alternative that can do TC's slackspace encryption, where an alternate password will "decrypt" the image with contents that had been stored in the slack space?

I've been looking for something that can do this and is cross-platform. Haven't found a thing.

I figure full-volume encryption is already on by default on iOS, is easily doable on Windows, Linux and OS X, so the three categories are: file at rest encryption, file in transit encryption, and plausible deniability encryption/steganography.

What I'd really like is a cross-platform solution that can create sliced images, to improve backups/cloud hosting while protecting the files.
adespoton wrote:
Does anyone have an alternative that can do TC's slackspace encryption, where an alternate password will "decrypt" the image with contents that had been stored in the slack space?.


If you are referring to the "hidden volume" feature of Truecrypt, I'm not aware of any. There may be some on the market, but they are likely proprietary solutions that cost your left kidney and your firstborn. Truecrypt really spoiled a lot of people, because it filled its niche well enough that nobody bothered making anything with comparable features... especially something that was cross-platform.
I think our work policy is to use the built-in Bitlocker or FileVault, with the employer getting the backup decryption key.

Mine might even be in iCloud.

Any enterprise-type or business solution needs to worry a lot more about key management than about the actual encryption.

I've lost data before due to lost keys for encrypted backups. Never due to "the bad guys" stealing the data.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5077
http://training.apple.com/pdf/WP_FileVault2.pdf

FileVault 2 key management resources
FreeBSD (only noting the native tools):

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/dis ... pting.html

Of note, zfs can be stacked on top of geli. Geli also supports encrypting the root partition. While I assume the desktop userbase is small, this is handy if you need to encrypt whatever lives on your file server.
adespoton wrote:
Does anyone have an alternative that can do TC's slackspace encryption, where an alternate password will "decrypt" the image with contents that had been stored in the slack space?


Tomb. It's Linux-only.
adespoton wrote:
Does anyone have an alternative that can do TC's slackspace encryption, where an alternate password will "decrypt" the image with contents that had been stored in the slack space?


Bestcrypt(Mac/Windows/Linux) has "enhanced hidden containers" that allows alternate password access into a container. I think if you use the 'main' password and edit something in the normal container then hidden part has the potential to be corrupted (but that happens in truecrypt too).

https://www.jetico.com/products/personal-privacy/bestcrypt-container-encryption
im new to all this encryption jazz. how does rohos compare to all these listed programs?
Hi, one of the devs of Espionage here, just wanted to mention a few things not listed here about it:

  • Out of the apps listed, I feel confident saying that Espionage 3.6 (just released) provides the best plausible deniability.
  • Although it is shareware, the source code to Espionage available to security professionals (as a way to keep the project sustainable while remaining transparent).
  • Uses scrypt to encrypt long random passwords to AES-256 sparsebundles. Each master password protects a list of encrypted folders (and their passwords). Enter a different password and you'll see a different list of folders (one of several layers of plausible deniability).
Since this was necro'd by what I assume is the vendor I might as well ask, has anyone found anything truly good in the last year? Can we vouch for any of the options presented previously?
Veracrypt.
useruseruser wrote:
Veracrypt.

Ditto
SecureDoc (Cross Platform on Windows, Mac, iOS and Linux)

Allows for either a Standalone solution or a Managed Solution using a backend server.
ncrand wrote:
SecureDoc (Cross Platform on Windows, Mac, iOS and Linux)

Allows for either a Standalone solution or a Managed Solution using a backend server.


My wifes company uses this.
Thank for this recopilation. I was tired of using online crypters.

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anadirrecordatorio.com/
Last edited by freddy mercury on Mon Oct 12, 2015 6:32 pm
Thank for this recopilation. I was tired of using online crypters

That's basically equivalent to walking up to the NSA office and giving them a hard drive with all your data (unencrypted) and your passphrase, then dropping the above in a parking lot in a sketchy part of town. This is all assuming that the "online crypters" are server side (even so, it's a bad idea).
Anonymouspock wrote:
Thank for this recopilation. I was tired of using online crypters

That's basically equivalent to walking up to the NSA office and giving them a hard drive with all your data (unencrypted) and your passphrase, then dropping the above in a parking lot in a sketchy part of town. This is all assuming that the "online crypters" are server side (even so, it's a bad idea).


What?
Adding the entry here since my original post is past-due for edits...

Veracrypt
*Truecrypt compatible

Description: A fork of Truecrypt 7.1a widely viewed as the successor to Truecrypt, under active development as of 2015. Author has worked on modernizing the app with security fixes and code rewrites, while expanding functionality in other ways.
LicenseApache 2.0 as of 2015
Supported ciphers: AES, Serpent, Twofish, Cascades
Encryption layer: volumes/containers
Platform Support:
  • Windows: yes
  • MacOS: yes
  • Linux/Unix: yes
  • iOS: ???
  • Android: partial (EDS, requires root)
  • Cloud friendly?: yes (with containers)
Audits: None directly, though the project is based on Truecrypt 7.1a, which was the subject of the Open Crypto Audit. The first security fixes were based on the findings of this audit.

Notes:
Initial versions were not Truecrypt-compatible, but newer versions have re-implemented Truecrypt container support, as well as the ability to convert Truecrypt volumes to Veracrypt format. In its current state, it can function as a drop-in replacement for Truecrypt.

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