Ask HN: How do you encrypt your laptops?

#1

Post by codegeek » Tue, May 24, 2016, 1:55 PM UTC

Read this story about lost macbook pro [0], I am wondering about the encryption tools for laptops. Even though a lot of work we do these days is on cloud (github/bitbucket/gitlab, dropbox etc), I still would hate to lose my laptop specially if unencrypted

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11759741

Re: Ask HN: How do you encrypt your laptops?

#2

Post by ShaneOG » Tue, May 24, 2016, 1:59 PM UTC

I use Mac OS X FileVault2, with a firmware password. It's incredibly easy to set up and should be good enough to protect my data from the majority of thieves.

Coupled with encrypted Time Machine backups and Arq[0] I feel relatively ok about losing my machine.

[0] https://www.arqbackup.com

Re: Ask HN: How do you encrypt your laptops?

#3

Post by andreicon » Tue, May 24, 2016, 2:01 PM UTC

ShaneOG wrote: post #2

I use Mac OS X FileVault2, with a firmware password. It's incredibly easy to set up and should be good enough to protect my data from the majority of thieves. Coupled with encrypted Time Machine backups and Arq[0] I feel relatively ok about losing my machine. [0] https://www.arqbackup.com

"I feel relatively ok about losing my machine." Does that mean you'd feel enthusiastic about donating it? :)

Re: Ask HN: How do you encrypt your laptops?

#4

Post by Guest98123 » Tue, May 24, 2016, 2:14 PM UTC

I just use Truecrypt 7.1a, and encrypt the entire drive, so it requires a password before booting.

Re: Ask HN: How do you encrypt your laptops?

#5

Post by codegeek » Tue, May 24, 2016, 2:15 PM UTC

ShaneOG wrote: post #2

I use Mac OS X FileVault2, with a firmware password. It's incredibly easy to set up and should be good enough to protect my data from the majority of thieves. Coupled with encrypted Time Machine backups and Arq[0] I feel relatively ok about losing my machine. [0] https://www.arqbackup.com

Thx. I am a relatively new Mac user and didn't realize this existed. Will try this. Any weird issues or edge cases to consider before turning this on ?

Re: Ask HN: How do you encrypt your laptops?

#6

Post by heartsucker » Tue, May 24, 2016, 2:15 PM UTC

I use FileVault on my MacBook and LUKS on my Debian machine. The only thing I really can't afford to lose is photos and art (backedup to Google Drive and and an external hard drive), and SSH/GPG/etc. keys which are backed up to USBs. I could lose most of my hardware and be ok.

Re: Ask HN: How do you encrypt your laptops?

#7

Post by georgestephanis » Tue, May 24, 2016, 2:15 PM UTC

Yup, encrypt every time.

Otherwise, they may be able to snag your SSH RSA keys off of the hard drive, and if you've password protected it, they can try to brute force it.

Also, it helps safeguard against border patrol wanting to access your data while traveling.

Re: Ask HN: How do you encrypt your laptops?

#8

Post by robgibbons » Tue, May 24, 2016, 2:20 PM UTC

codegeek wrote: post #5

ShaneOG wrote: post #2

I use Mac OS X FileVault2, with a firmware password. It's incredibly easy to set up and should be good enough to protect my data from the majority of thieves. Coupled with encrypted Time Machine backups and Arq[0] I feel relatively ok about losing my machine. [0] https://www.arqbackup.com

Thx. I am a relatively new Mac user and didn't realize this existed. Will try this. Any weird issues or edge cases to consider before turning this on ?

Yes. FileVault is awesome, but if your encrypted filesystem ever gets corrupted (which can and does happen), your encrypted data is useless and your volume is toast until it's wiped and re-imaged. Surprisingly I have never had this happen, but more than one friend has reported losing their data due to FS corruption with FileVault enabled. I suppose it can be mitigated with a solid Time Machine/backup routine.

Re: Ask HN: How do you encrypt your laptops?

#9

Post by zeveb » Tue, May 24, 2016, 2:21 PM UTC

I'm running Debian, so I have LUKS full-disk encryption running; I consider it a sine qua non of running a personal computer.

I wish it were a bit easier to enable per-user encrypted home directories as well (yes, layered: CPUs are fast, and security is worth the cost), but … I'm lazy.

Re: Ask HN: How do you encrypt your laptops?

#10

Post by maxaf » Tue, May 24, 2016, 2:22 PM UTC

FileVault on Macs and OpenBSD's softraid(4) on non-Macs. Almost every OS these days has some support for full-disk encryption. Not using it is irresponsible.