Linux

49059 readers

964 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
No misinformation
No NSFW content
No hate speech, bigotry, etc

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

AgreeableLandscape@lemmy.ml

nooter692@lemmy.ml

MarcellusDrum@lemmy.ml

cypherpunks@lemmy.ml

cyclohexane@lemmy.ml

d3Xt3r

149

Do you encrypt your drives and why or why not? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 day ago by monovergent@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml

209 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I was recently intrigued to learn that only half of the respondents to a survey said that they used disk encryption. Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows have been increasingly using encryption by default. On the other hand, while most Linux installers I've encountered include the option to encrypt, it is not selected by default.

Whether it's a test bench, beater laptop, NAS, or daily driver, I encrypt for peace of mind. Whatever I end up doing on my machines, I can be pretty confident my data won't end up in the wrong hands if the drive is stolen or lost and can be erased by simply overwriting the LUKS header. Recovering from an unbootable state or copying files out from an encrypted boot drive only takes a couple more commands compared to an unencrypted setup.

But that's just me and I'm curious to hear what other reasons to encrypt or not to encrypt are out there.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] furrowsofar@beehaw.org 2 points 22 hours ago

Servers are harder and not preconfigued if you want unattended boot. The first key has to come from somewhere typically to unlock the root partition. The other keys can then be stored on that encrypted partition and are typically referenced by crypttab for auto unlock.

The first key can come from anywhere you want such as attached media like a flash drive, a over the network say via ssh, from a key server, or from the TPM. Or you could remotely connect to the console. There are bunch of how tos out there. It amounts to customizing the boot process and the initramfs. It is not simple. What makes sense depends on the threat model.