Giveaway of the Day Forums

1. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   Secure Disk is a higher impact encrypted drive app that goes a bit heavy on the DRM. Adding a couple of drivers from SafeIT [safeit.com] it creates apparently dynamically expanding virtual disk files [.ved] with a minimum size of 32 MB [though when I created a disk that size it showed zero free space]. The virtual disk files themselves stayed the same size in Windows Explorer until I closed Secure Disk, & then they reflected the size of the files I'd copied/pasted there. Each new drive, when it was created, caused Windows Add Hardware dialog to pop up -- once you run through the install however that was it, with no further prompts For That Drive. Double-clicking a .ved file, or right-click -> Open, brings up the Secure Disk program window, even if the app was closed. I didn't see anyway to compact the virtual disks or increase their maximum size, so adding files & deleting them your virtual disks will still be the same size as when they held those files, & you're apparently out of luck if you fill a disk up, with little choice but to create a new, bigger virtual disk & copy files over. All in all it seems easier to use than Microsoft's VHD format, where mounting/unmounting can be a bit of a chore, & of course if you're in XP it's a bit of a hassle adding VHD support in the 1st place.

   Installation is convoluted as other have posted, resulting in a new, hidden folder under All Users App/Application Data with 54 files, 86 folders, ~37 MB -- the FileStream program folder with 28 files, 1 folder, ~23 MB -- a SafeIT Security folder under Common Files, with 6 files, 1 folder, ~3MB -- & finally 3 files are added to the System32\ Drivers folder. At 1st Secure Disk didn't show the 180 day license, so I attempted to activate with the key I'd been e-mailed, & although that didn't work, afterward it did show the 180 days. I recorded ~850 new registry entries in XP Pro.

   To be honest I don't know why you wouldn't just use Truecrypt for the same purpose, or BitLocker if your version of Windows has it, but there ya go.

   Posted 12 years ago #
2. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   When you encrypt data you're putting that data inside a locked container -- you have your original data + the encryption that provides a protective layer. When you encrypt files individually or combine them in a single encrypted file you might think of that protective, encrypting layer as something more like shrink wrap -- it fits the enclosed data without much if any room left over, so to add/subtract protected data you have to remove & recreate that protective layer. That's where virtual disks can come in handy -- while less efficient [it's not unlike storing a single ball point pen in a shoebox] the container's created once & then filled or emptied at will. Another downside besides relative inefficiency, whether a virtual disk's encrypted or not, you still need software to make the virtual disk accessible [to mount it], & that's normally done with special drivers. For an encrypted virtual disk you need both drivers & encrypting/decrypting software, & that means that it's harder to hide the fact that you've used or use virtual disks, while making portability difficult.

   Regarding portability, you can use scripts to add the drivers you need, then remove them, but you still need Administrative level access -- a couple of examples are the portableapps.com format & the VirtualBox portable launcher, each adding needed Windows components like drivers, then removing them on exit. Neither will remove every possible trace from the host system, so one option for greater stealth is to boot to a CD/DVD/USB device running something like WinPE, using a RAM disk that clears itself on exit -- a couple of cons are you're limited by the system RAM available, & booting to another disc or device just isn't always practical, or possible. If you can't reasonably expect to completely hide your use of virtual disks, perhaps the next best thing is to hide what you're doing with them? That's where/why some people nest virtual disks, one inside another -- the outer virtual disk provides the explanation [why you're using virtual disks in the 1st place], while the hidden, nested virtual disk holds whatever you want it to.

   Truecrypt works with its own type/format of virtual disks -- it can be handy even if/when you're not concerned about encrypting anything -- & I think they first popularized the idea of nesting virtual disks that way. Don't forget that you can also use Truecrypt on or with the virtual disks in VM hosts, e.g. VirtualBox, for other forms of nesting. With BitLocker encryption available in some versions of Windows [more versions of Windows, e.g. win7 HP can decrypt it], plus better VHD [Virtual Hard Disk] support in win7, there is some movement away from Truecrypt, though from what I've read it has more to do with Corp IT policies than anything Truecrypt does/doesn't do. And of course there are all sorts of apps like today's GOTD offering their own versions of encrypted drives -- the less popular or used they are however, I think the greater the risk of problems from their drivers as well as holes in their security. OTOH I suppose something that's less well known might be overlooked more often (?). Whatever you use, remember that when your files are decrypted, they're just as vulnerable as every other file on your drive(s). We tend to leave disks &/or devices plugged in or mounted, while we tend to put individual files we've decrypted back into encrypted form, or delete/erase them if unchanged. Using encrypted storage should mean a change in habits.

   Posted 12 years ago #

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