Differences between revisions 1 and 3 (spanning 2 versions)

Encrypted filesystems and hidden volume

There is [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Security a lot of documentation] on how to create an encrypted volume. However, a significant problem caused by most of the existing implementations is that the owner of the data may be forced to reveal the password used to encrypt the data.

To address this, different projects exist to implement some [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steganography steganography] mechanisms, but at the time of writing, only [http://www.truecrypt.org Truecrypt] is full-featured and production quality.

[http://www.truecrypt.org Truecrypt] is a free open-source disk encryption software available on Ubuntu. It offers a convenient hidden volumes management that includes protection against damages.

More information is available at [http://www.truecrypt.org/hiddenvolume.php].

This page is mostly based on the man page of truecrypt 4.3a and intents to give a short recipe to implement [http://www.truecrypt.org Truecrypt] hidden volumes on Ubuntu.

Truecrypt hidden volumes

Install [http://www.truecrypt.org Truecrypt]:
```
sudo apt-get install truecrypt
```

Create an outer volume:

truecrypt --filesystem none --type normal --encryption AES --hash SHA-1 --random-source /dev/urandom -c /dev/sdb1

Map the corresponding volume, but do not mount it:
```
truecrypt /dev/sdb1
```
Format outer volume with FAT:
```
sudo mkfs.vfat /dev/mapper/truecrypt0
```
Dismount the volume:
```
truecrypt -d
```

Create a (ex: 50M) hidden volume within the outer volume:

truecrypt --filesystem none --type hidden --size 50M --encryption AES --hash SHA-1 --random-source /dev/urandom -c /dev/sdb1

Map the corresponding hidden volume, but do not mount it:
```
truecrypt /dev/sdb1 # (use the hidden password)
```
Format the hidden volume with a filesystem recognised by mount(8):
```
sudo mkfs.xfs /dev/mapper/truecrypt0
```
Dismount the hidden volume:
```
truecrypt -d
```
Mount the outer volume with the hidden volume protected:
```
truecrypt -P /dev/sdb1 /mnt/tc
```
Copy files to the outer volume:
```
cp outer_volume_file.txt /mnt/tc
```
Dismount the outer volume:
```
truecrypt -d
```

Mount either volume and enjoy:

truecrypt /dev/sdb1 /mnt/tc # (use the password relevant to the volume you want to mount)

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-This page is based on the truecrypt 4.3a man page and intents to give a short recipe to implement [http://www.truecrypt.org Truecrypt] hidden volumes on Ubuntu.
+This page is mostly based on the ''man page'' of ''truecrypt 4.3a'' and intents to give a short recipe to implement [http://www.truecrypt.org Truecrypt] hidden volumes on Ubuntu.
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-. Install Truecrypt:{{{
+. Install [http://www.truecrypt.org Truecrypt]:{{{
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-. Map the corresponding crypto device, but do not mount it:{{{
+. Map the corresponding volume, but do not mount it:{{{
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-. Create a (ex: 50M) hidden volume:{{{
+. Create a (ex: 50M) hidden volume within the outer volume:{{{
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-. Map the corresponding crypto device, but do not mount it:{{{
+. Map the corresponding hidden volume, but do not mount it:{{{
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-. Format hidden volume with a filesystem recognised by mount(8):{{{
+. Format the hidden volume with a filesystem recognised by ''mount(8)'':{{{

Ubuntu Documentation

Diff for "TruecryptHiddenVolume"

Encrypted filesystems and hidden volume

Truecrypt hidden volumes