loop-AES is a fast and transparent file system and swap encryption package. loop-AES can be used to encrypt disk partitions, removable media, swap space and other devices. It provides measures to strengthen the encryption including passphrase seeds, multiple hash iterations, MD5 IV and alternating encryption keys.
It provides loadable Linux kernel module (loop.o or loop.ko on 2.6 kernels) that has AES cipher built-in. The AES cipher can be used to encrypt local file systems and disk partitions.
Loop device encrypts data but does not authenticate ciphertext. In other words, it provides data privacy, but does not guarantee that data has not been tampered with. Admins setting up encrypted file systems should ensure that neither ciphertext, nor tools used to access ciphertext (kernel + kernel modules, mount, losetup, and other utilities) can be trojaned or tampered.
loop-AES does not modify the kernel in any way. This means that users can still use kernels which have been patched. The tool worls with works with 2.0.x, 2.2.x, 2.4.x (2.4.7 or later) and 2.6.x kernels.
Key Features
- Pre-boot authentication.
- Custom authentication.
- Multiple keys.
- Passphrase strengthening.
- Hardware acceleration.
- Any filesystem supported by the operating system.
- Layering:
- File.
- Partition.
- Entire disk.
- Swap space.
- AES cipher is used in CBC (cipher block chaining) mode.
- Includes the cipher modules blowfish, twofish and serpent in addition to the default cipher (AES).
- Three key setup modes are supported; single-key, multi-key-v2 and multi-key-v3 modes.
- Encryption keys are kept in kernel RAM while loop is active.
- File system soft block sizes.
- Compatibility with other loop encryption implementations.
- Encryption keys can be stored in a GnuPG-encrypted keyfile, which allows the passphrase to be changed without re-encryption.
- The key (with all the parameters – key length, algorithm etc) resides on your encryption partition at the first blocks of your hard disk.
Website: sourceforge.net/projects/loop-aes
Support:
Developer: Jari Ruusu
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
loop-AES is written in C. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Disk Encryption Tools | |
|---|---|
| VeraCrypt | Strong disk encryption software |
| loop-AES | Encrypt disk partitions, removable media, swap space and other devices |
| dm-crypt | Transparent disk encryption subsystem |
| GnuPG | GNU Privacy Guard - implementation of the OpenPGP standard |
| GocryptFS | Encrypted overlay filesystem written in Go |
| cryptsetup | Configures encrypted block devices |
| Tomb | System for file encryption |
| Shufflecake | Create multiple hidden volumes |
| zuluCrypt | Feature rich solution for hard drive encryption |
| cryptmount | Managing encrypted file systems |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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