21 KiB
meta_title, title, icon, description, cover
| meta_title | title | icon | description | cover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended Encryption Software: VeraCrypt, Cryptomator, and OpenPGP - Privacy Guides | Encryption Software | material/file-lock | Encryption of data is the only way to control who can access it. These tools allow you to encrypt your emails and any other files. | encryption.webp |
Encryption is the only secure way to control who can access your data. If you are currently not using encryption software for your hard disk, emails, or files, you should pick an option here.
Multi-platform
The options listed here are available on multiple platforms and great for creating encrypted backups of your data.
Cryptomator (Cloud)
Protects against the following threat(s):
- :material-bug-outline: Passive Attacks{ .pg-orange }
{ align=right }
Cryptomator is an encryption solution designed for privately saving files to any cloud :material-server-network: Service Provider{ .pg-teal }, eliminating the need to trust that they won't access your files. It allows you to create vaults that are stored on a virtual drive, the contents of which are encrypted and synced with your cloud storage provider.
:octicons-home-16: Homepage{ .md-button .md-button--primary } :octicons-eye-16:{ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" } :octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title="Documentation" } :octicons-code-16:{ .card-link title="Source Code" } :octicons-heart-16:{ .card-link title="Contribute" }
Cryptomator uses AES-256 encryption to encrypt both files and filenames. Cryptomator cannot encrypt metadata such as access, modification, and creation timestamps, nor the number and size of files and folders.
Cryptomator is free to use on all desktop platforms, as well as on iOS in "read only" mode. Cryptomator offers paid apps with full functionality on iOS and Android. The Android version can be purchased anonymously via ProxyStore.
Some Cryptomator cryptographic libraries have been audited by Cure53. The scope of the audited libraries includes: cryptolib, cryptofs, siv-mode and cryptomator-objc-cryptor. The audit did not extend to cryptolib-swift, which is a library used by Cryptomator for iOS.
Cryptomator's documentation details its intended security target, security architecture, and best practices for use in further detail.
VeraCrypt (Disk)
Protects against the following threat(s):
- :material-target-account: Targeted Attacks{ .pg-red }
{ align=right }
{ align=right }
VeraCrypt is a source-available freeware utility used for on-the-fly encryption. It can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file, encrypt a partition, or encrypt the entire storage device with pre-boot authentication.
:octicons-home-16: Homepage{ .md-button .md-button--primary } :octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title="Documentation" } :octicons-code-16:{ .card-link title="Source Code" } :octicons-heart-16:{ .card-link title="Contribute" }
VeraCrypt is a fork of the discontinued TrueCrypt project. According to its developers, security improvements have been implemented and issues raised by the initial TrueCrypt code audit have been addressed.
When encrypting with VeraCrypt, you have the option to select from different hash functions. We suggest you only select SHA-512 and stick to the AES block cipher.
TrueCrypt has been audited a number of times, and VeraCrypt has also been audited separately.
Operating System Encryption
Protects against the following threat(s):
- :material-target-account: Targeted Attacks{ .pg-red }
Built-in OS encryption solutions generally leverage hardware security features such as a secure cryptoprocessor. Therefore, we recommend using the built-in encryption solutions for your operating system. For cross-platform encryption, we still recommend cross-platform tools for additional flexibility and to avoid vendor lock-in.
Shut devices down when not in use.
Powering off your devices when not in use provides the best security as this minimizes the attack surface of your FDE method as no keys are available in memory.
BitLocker
{ align=right }
BitLocker is the full volume encryption solution bundled with Microsoft Windows that uses the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) for hardware-based security. We recommend that you use Bitlocker with the TPM+PIN option and not just your regular password as extraction is impossible when you use an extra a pre-boot protector like the PIN. The PIN is rate limited and the TPM will panic and lock access to the encryption key either permanently or for a period of time if someone attempts to brute force access.
:octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title="Documentation" }
BitLocker is officially supported on the Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions of Windows. If you have Home edition we recommend you upgrade to Pro, which can be achieved without reinstalling Windows or losing your files. An alternative solution could be to use VeraCrypt's system encryption feature. VeraCrypt does not use the system's TPM chip and all encryption keys are stored in memory, leaving them vulnerable to extraction while the device is online and mounted. We also recommend if you're using Bitlocker to make sure you
FileVault
{ align=right }
FileVault is the on-the-fly volume encryption solution built into macOS. FileVault takes advantage of the hardware security capabilities present on an Apple Silicon SoC or T2 Security Chip.
:octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title="Documentation" }
We advise against using your iCloud account for recovery; instead, you should securely store a local recovery key on a separate storage device.
Linux Unified Key Setup
{ align=right }
LUKS is the default FDE method for Linux. It can be used to encrypt full volumes, partitions, or create encrypted containers.
:octicons-repo-16: Repository{ .md-button .md-button--primary } :octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title="Documentation" } :octicons-code-16:{ .card-link title="Source Code" }
Creating and opening encrypted containers
dd if=/dev/urandom of=/path-to-file bs=1M count=1024 status=progress
sudo cryptsetup luksFormat /path-to-file
Opening encrypted containers
We recommend opening containers and volumes with udisksctl as this uses Polkit. Most file managers, such as those included with popular desktop environments, can unlock encrypted files. Tools like udiskie can run in the system tray and provide a helpful user interface.
udisksctl loop-setup -f /path-to-file
udisksctl unlock -b /dev/loop0
Remember to back up volume headers
We recommend you always back up your LUKS headers in case of partial drive failure. This can be done with:
cryptsetup luksHeaderBackup /dev/device --header-backup-file /mnt/backup/file.img
Command-line
Protects against the following threat(s):
- :material-target-account: Targeted Attacks{ .pg-red }
Tools with command-line interfaces are useful for integrating shell scripts.
Kryptor
{ align=right }
Kryptor is a free and open-source file encryption and signing tool that makes use of modern and secure cryptographic algorithms. It aims to be a better version of age and Minisign to provide a simple, easier alternative to GPG.
:octicons-home-16: Homepage{ .md-button .md-button--primary } :octicons-eye-16:{ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" } :octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title="Documentation" } :octicons-code-16:{ .card-link title="Source Code" } :octicons-heart-16:{ .card-link title="Contribute" }
Tomb
{ align=right }
Tomb is a command-line shell wrapper for LUKS. It supports steganography via third-party tools.
:octicons-home-16: Homepage{ .md-button .md-button--primary } :octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title="Documentation" } :octicons-code-16:{ .card-link title="Source Code" } :octicons-heart-16:{ .card-link title="Contribute" }
OpenPGP
Protects against the following threat(s):
- :material-target-account: Targeted Attacks{ .pg-red }
- :material-bug-outline: Passive Attacks{ .pg-orange }
- :material-server-network: Service Providers{ .pg-teal }
OpenPGP is sometimes needed for specific tasks such as digitally signing and encrypting email. PGP has many features and is complex as it has been around a long time. For tasks such as signing or encrypting files, we suggest the above options.
When encrypting with PGP, you have the option to configure different options in your gpg.conf file. We recommend staying with the standard options specified in the GnuPG user FAQ.
Use future defaults when generating a key
When generating keys we suggest using the future-default command as this will instruct GnuPG use modern cryptography such as Curve25519 and Ed25519:
gpg --quick-gen-key alice@example.com future-default
GNU Privacy Guard
{ align=right }
GnuPG is a GPL-licensed alternative to the PGP suite of cryptographic software. GnuPG is compliant with RFC 4880, which is the current IETF specification of OpenPGP. The GnuPG project has been working on an updated draft in an attempt to modernize OpenPGP. GnuPG is a part of the Free Software Foundation's GNU software project and has received major funding from the German government.
:octicons-home-16: Homepage{ .md-button .md-button--primary } :octicons-eye-16:{ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" } :octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title="Documentation" } :octicons-code-16:{ .card-link title="Source Code" }
GPG4win
{ align=right }
GPG4win is a package for Windows from Intevation and g10 Code. It includes various tools that can assist you in using GPG on Microsoft Windows. The project was initiated and originally funded by Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) in 2005.
:octicons-home-16: Homepage{ .md-button .md-button--primary } :octicons-eye-16:{ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" } :octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title="Documentation" } :octicons-code-16:{ .card-link title="Source Code" } :octicons-heart-16:{ .card-link title="Contribute" }
Downloads
GPG Suite
{ align=right }
GPG Suite provides OpenPGP support for Apple Mail and other email clients on macOS.
We recommend taking a look at their First steps and Knowledge Base for support.
:octicons-home-16: Homepage{ .md-button .md-button--primary } :octicons-eye-16:{ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" } :octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title="Documentation" } :octicons-code-16:{ .card-link title="Source Code" }
Downloads
Currently, GPG Suite does not yet have a stable release for macOS Sonoma and later.
OpenKeychain
{ align=right }
OpenKeychain is an implementation of GnuPG for Android. It's commonly required by mail clients such as Thunderbird, FairEmail, and other Android apps to provide encryption support.
:octicons-home-16: Homepage{ .md-button .md-button--primary } :octicons-eye-16:{ .card-link title="Privacy Policy" } :octicons-info-16:{ .card-link title="Documentation" } :octicons-code-16:{ .card-link title="Source Code" }
Downloads
Cure53 completed a security audit of OpenKeychain 3.6 in October 2015. The published audit and OpenKeychain's solutions to the issues raised in the audit can be found here.
Criteria
Please note we are not affiliated with any of the projects we recommend. In addition to our standard criteria, we have developed a clear set of requirements to allow us to provide objective recommendations. We suggest you familiarize yourself with this list before choosing to use a project, and conduct your own research to ensure it's the right choice for you.
Minimum Qualifications
- Cross-platform encryption apps must be open source.
- File encryption apps must support decryption on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
- External disk encryption apps must support decryption on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
- Internal (OS) disk encryption apps must be cross-platform or built in to the operating system natively.
Best-Case
Our best-case criteria represents what we would like to see from the perfect project in this category. Our recommendations may not include any or all of this functionality, but those which do may rank higher than others on this page.
- Operating System (FDE) encryption apps should utilize hardware security such as a TPM or Secure Enclave.
- File encryption apps should have first- or third-party support for mobile platforms.