[SOLVED] is encrypting hdd/partition a common security measure?

rblampain · 10-24-2017, 03:34 AM

Having nothing to hide? Fair enough. Very honorable. But our politicians are professionals at proving that what does not need hiding can easily be distorted to the point of becoming reprehensible and is often better not made public unnecessarily.
It seems there are plenty of people on Facebook and the like, who candidly thought they had nothing to hide and are now very bitter having dicovered they should not have told the world about it.

dave@burn-it.co.uk · 10-24-2017, 06:47 AM

Just replying in kind, or is that not allowed??

scasey · 10-25-2017, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rblampain

I am aware that if a computer/laptop is lost or stolen, it is easy to remove the hdd and access its contents from another machine. Is it a common security measure to encrypt a hard didk drive or its partitions in order to protect the confidentiality of the data. Is this method transparent to the user and the programs accessing the data or is there more complications that I cannot foresee, knowing nothing about encryption except its existence (like a need to decrypt before accessing data).

"SOLVED" while I was composing, so I'll limit my response to: Yes, it is a common security measure, especially for laptops. [The last two Fortune 500 companies I worked for (with more than 25K employees each) requred it on laptops. The last one issued only laptops, and all were encrypted.]
and
Yes, encryption is transparent to the user and programs accessing the data.

ant2ne · 12-04-2017, 02:30 PM

I encrypt the hard drives of all of my workstations, at least my home partition. Linux Mint makes it easy. I'm not hiding any big secrets, but it is none of your damn business what is on my hard drive. If I have possession of a computer that does not encrypt the data at rest that that data will be mine. If not the password files as well. It is ridiculously easy for some nosy person (room mate, jilted lover, sibling, brat child, etc.) to peak into your business and what you've been up to. Speaking of businesses, if you loose a hard drive or flash drive that had pii or other confidential data you could loose your job. Encryption isn't very common, but it should be. Encryption doesn't mean you are hiding anything. It is just means you are protecting yourself.

sundialsvcs · 12-05-2017, 06:27 PM

If you want to secure a laptop, I would purchase a laptop that is equipped with hardware encryption (in the on-board disk controller ... less-often in much-more expensive drives ...) so that the content will be encrypted without a bunch of software-nonsense.

rblampain · 12-11-2017, 05:09 AM

Hardware encryption! The best answer yet. Thank you for that, I was unaware of it and I will definitely investigate.