Linux Security
 

I have Kubuntu 7.04 and WinXP
when I run Kubuntu I can see all the files of winXP(even the files in the password protect user account)

could windows see the files of Kubuntu too? If yes, how can I protect my Linux files from windows?

There are tools for Windows that allow you to read some Linux
native file-systems, and yes, that would allow a windows user
to see your files that your created under Linux no matter what.

To work around this you might want to have a look at encfs, for
example, or one of the other user-space file-encryption tools
(or encrypting file-systems, for that matter). They will allow
you to only access your files under a given, special mount-point
after you have entered a password. For Linux you could tie that
in with PAM (in other words, when you log in those files become
accessible automatically), if you were in windows you can see (for
encfs, that is) garbled names and have no idea what the contents of
the files would be. All you can spot is their size and date.



Cheers,
Tink

I didnt get it 100%
should I download encfs or PAM?

PAM is (most certainly) already installed, its the Linux authentication system used in virtually every distribution (at least it should be). Im not sure if its used outside of Linux tho. Anyways, all it does is authenticate users by use of modules, i assume Tinkster is referring to using this system to tie in your authentication password with the disk encryption password, anyways, im sure there is better info online somewhere about this specific.

encfs is a encrypted filesystem (i think, that, or its a generic term from any encrypted file system). If its not a specific file system, then Tinkster is probably refering to lookback encryption, or use of the device mapper system in Linux (dm-crypt i think its called) to encrypt regular file systems.

In any case, all of this should already be in your OS, im not sure about device mapper tho, you might have to install it by hand. In any event, it should provide you with a good read if your interested in whole filesystem encryption (as its the only way to protect files from being read by another OS). (note: the Linux kernel recommends against using loopback encryption with modern journaled filesystems, so you should probably use the device mapper to get encryption).

encfs is a FUSE-based encrypted filesystem that
I quite happily use.



Cheers,
Tink

oo, thanks Tinkster, ignore my suggestion everyone, looks like encryption has come a very long way since i last looked at it.

should I download encfs or is it already found with Kubuntu?

and how can I use it.... where could I find a tut about using encfs...
sorry, but I need ur help

perhaps using google to find encfs's somepage, there is a good link around the top:
http://arg0.net/wiki/encfs
it has links to other help pages. As for if its installed with your distro, that is a task thats up to you to find out, perhaps looking at the package manager to see if its already installed?

It isn't part of the default install in Ubuntu,
but a simple apt-get install encfs will do.

You also want to add your user to the fuse group.

As for the tutorial; it's really quite easy, and
the man-page gives exhaustive information.


Cheers,
Tink