TrueCrypt Review

Introduction

TrueCrypt Partition Selection

It seems as though I have been on a quite an encryption kick lately. While not foolproof, encryption adds a substantial layer of security to any system. Encryption helps keep secrets secret. This is not new, encryption and cryptography have been around for hundreds of years. In ancient times, Spartan soldiers would write critical orders on a scytale which was a sheet of papyrus wrapped around a staff. The correct size staff would cause all of the letters to be lined up and read.

What is TrueCrypt?

While ingenious, modern computers are extremely good at guessing computations which try to crack algorithms used to encrypt the data. The average user most likely has a need to perform some form of encryption (i.e. payroll, secret recipe, etc), but little idea how to implement it. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is daunting. TrueCrypt is a simple tool which allows a user to encrypt and decrypt data on a hard drive, portable hard drive or USB thumb drive as required.
TrueCrypt is an open source project that is extremely simple to configure and use, which is all most people really want. TrueCrypt does not provide boot sector encryption for full disk encryption like DriveCrypt or the upcoming BitLocker in Vista but does allow a user to mount a virtual encrypted volume on a hard drive instead, still very cool.
You can download TrueCrypt from http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads.php.

Features

TrueCrypt Preferences

TrueCrypt allows mounting of virtual encrypted drives. The product can also be used to encrypt an entire partition or a storage device such as USB flash drive to provide a secure location to store files. The encryption is completely transparent.
TrueCrypt also supplies two levels of plausible deniability. I always get a chuckle when I read about this as my mind helplessly slips into cloak and dagger mode. What does this mean? Depending on the password you enter, you can have access to a hidden drive with no files located there or if you enter another password you would have full access to your secret data. That way if you are forced at gunpoint (or a stern look from your wife) to open up and reveal your secrets, you would only have to reveal the non secret drive.
When the TrueCrypt partitions are not mounted, they are invisible to the operating system. They cannot be identified and according to TrueCrypt, they cannot be distinguished from random data.
The product uses a number of selectable encryption algorithms including AES-256, Blowfish (448-bit key), CAST5, Serpent, Triple DES, and Twofish. You can even use multiple configurations of different algorithms if you want to be super secure.

Usability

The product can create a virtual encrypted partition or a complete encrypted hard drive. The interface is simple and easy to use. One simply selects the device or file they want to mount and click mount. They will be prompted for a password and the utility will mount the drive as a normal looking drive letter. All files in the mounted drive are encrypted and decrypted on the fly effortlessly. Minimal overhead is introduced.
Please Note: The program does let you “auto” remember passwords when mounting an encrypted volume. It will also let you auto start the program on operating system start-up. You may want to avoid both of these scenarios. The security of encryption lies in the fact that you control when it is being turned on and off. If someone steals your computer, it is extremely easy to bypass a username and password prompt when the computer boots to gain access to the system. If your system auto boots with the password combination for TrueCrypt you have defeated the security you are trying to embrace. Remember to layer those security factors.
The preferences are simple to get used to even for a novice user and basically centre around the aforementioned auto start functions.

Conclusion

For a free utility, TrueCrypt is fantastic. In fact it rivals many pay for programs. The algorithms are sound and well tested in the field. The user interface is simple to use and easy enough for a novice but providing enough under the hood mechanics to keep the tinkerer of cryptography at hand as well. TrueCrypt is a welcome edition to any computer requiring simple and effective security and encryption. I give TrueCrypt 4 stars out of 5. If TrueCrypt gets full disk encryption I would lean to 5 out of 5 stars.

Publisher's Site