The paper is here: https://www.ru.nl/publish/pages/909275/draft-paper_1.pdf.
(That was the submitted URL but download links don't work so well for HN stories.)
Self-encrypting deception: weaknesses in the encryption of solid state drives [pdf]
71–80 of 113 posts
Re: Self-encrypting deception: weaknesses in the encryption of solid state drives [pdf]
#72In case you're wondering if this affects you (I know I was wondering) the relevant command to run is (in an elevated command prompt) `manage-bde -status ` Then look at the output for "Encryption Method". If it says something like "XTS-AES 128" I think that means you're using software encryption. If it mentions hardware encryption, then it's using it :) (more info. https://helgeklein.com/blog/2015/01/how-to-enable-bit…
I never used HW disk encryption (other than TPM) because I always seen it as unnecessary as in it doesn’t really improve on SW+TPM in terms of performance or compatibility and could only cause potential data recovery and security issues. There is no performance benefit in fact with modern CPUs that have crypto extensions it’s often slower and I never trust commercial solutions ever since you could dump the key from t…
The hw drives absolutely perform better if you have a raid.
Re: Self-encrypting deception: weaknesses in the encryption of solid state drives [pdf]
#73I did not know that BitLocker relies on hardware encryption if the SSD has support for it. That seems like an extremely dangerous default to have, especially as the implementation is closed source in most (all?) cases.
It's a very difficult process to turn on and isn't something that happens automatically. You must flip the bit using the SSD manufacturer's tool, reinstall Windows, and then enable BitLocker. Even then, it only works with a handful of SATA SSDs and maybe 2 NVMe SSDs with 1 or 2 motherboards.
Check out sedutil it makes using opal drives easy.
Re: Self-encrypting deception: weaknesses in the encryption of solid state drives [pdf]
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure. Find any device crypto vulnerability, and check to see if the device was FIPS 140-2 certified. For instance, Infineon with their batshit RNG (the ROCA vulnerability).
Does your argument boil down to any review process that doesn’t catch 100% of problems is worthless? I don’t think anyone claims fips certification is always going to garuntee perfection but it’s better than nothing. It also stipulates things like tamper evident seals which would mitigate attacks that need jtag access to muck with firmware.
If someone lifted your drive - the thing FDE is supposed to protect against - tamper evident seals are not going to offer much in the way of mitigation.
Re: Self-encrypting deception: weaknesses in the encryption of solid state drives [pdf]
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure. Find any device crypto vulnerability, and check to see if the device was FIPS 140-2 certified. For instance, Infineon with their batshit RNG (the ROCA vulnerability).
So looking at the ROCA vulnerability, it looks like the vulnerability wwas with how the primes were generated, not with the correctness of the actual crypto algorithm. Fips typically certifies that the algorithm is correct, but it can't be faulted for bad primes. So I'm still going to have to ask for an actual citation Edit: I also didn't see where that device is Fips certified either
Fips typically certifies that the algorithm is correct, but it can't be faulted for bad primes
I think I rest my case.
Re: Self-encrypting deception: weaknesses in the encryption of solid state drives [pdf]
#76In case you're wondering if this affects you (I know I was wondering) the relevant command to run is (in an elevated command prompt) `manage-bde -status ` Then look at the output for "Encryption Method". If it says something like "XTS-AES 128" I think that means you're using software encryption. If it mentions hardware encryption, then it's using it :) (more info. https://helgeklein.com/blog/2015/01/how-to-enable-bit…
Does anyone have any info on whether this affects Macs as well? I recently bought an external Samsung T5 SSD. I'm using APFS with encryption. Does that mean it is using the broken hw encryption that Samsung provides or is OSX actually doing this properly?
If you are using FileVault you are not affected. The encryption is done in software.
Re: Self-encrypting deception: weaknesses in the encryption of solid state drives [pdf]
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
So looking at the ROCA vulnerability, it looks like the vulnerability wwas with how the primes were generated, not with the correctness of the actual crypto algorithm. Fips typically certifies that the algorithm is correct, but it can't be faulted for bad primes. So I'm still going to have to ask for an actual citation Edit: I also didn't see where that device is Fips certified either
Fips typically certifies that the algorithm is correct, but it can't be faulted for bad primes I think I rest my case.
How? I honestly don't follow your logic at all.
Re: Self-encrypting deception: weaknesses in the encryption of solid state drives [pdf]
#78BitLocker, ehh? Truecrypt.org, before its final demise, claimed it was obsolete due to FDE being native in Windows nowadays (ie. BitLocker ).
i remember this being widely interpreted as sarcasm or a straussian double meaning at the time
Re: Self-encrypting deception: weaknesses in the encryption of solid state drives [pdf]
#79Who would have thought that proprietary firmware encryption implemented by hardware vendors would be crappy?
Re: Self-encrypting deception: weaknesses in the encryption of solid state drives [pdf]
#80Warning - this file will automatically download instead of opening up in the browser.
It's a direct link to a PDF, what it does depends on how your browser is configured. For me on FF it shows a dialog asking if I want to open or save.
Doesn't the website set a header or something like that for the preferred way of consuming it?: in-site viewing or downñoading to hdd?