VeraCrypt explained

VeraCrypt
Developer:IDRIX (based in Paris, France)[1]
Programming Language:C, C++, Assembly
Operating System:
Platform:IA-32, x86-64, AArch64 and armhf
Language Count:40
Language Footnote:[2]
Genre:Disk encryption software
License:Multi-licensed as Apache License 2.0 and TrueCrypt License 3.0[3]

VeraCrypt is a free and open-source utility for on-the-fly encryption (OTFE).[4] The software can create a virtual encrypted disk that works just like a regular disk but within a file. It can also encrypt a partition[5] or (in Windows) the entire storage device with pre-boot authentication.[6]

VeraCrypt is a fork of the discontinued TrueCrypt project.[7] It was initially released on 22 June 2013. Many security improvements have been implemented and concerns within the TrueCrypt code audits have been addressed. VeraCrypt includes optimizations to the original cryptographic hash functions and ciphers, which boost performance on modern CPUs.

Encryption scheme

VeraCrypt employs AES, Serpent, Twofish, Camellia, and Kuznyechik as ciphers. Version 1.19 stopped using the Magma cipher in response to a security audit.[8] For additional security, ten different combinations of cascaded algorithms are available:[9]

The cryptographic hash functions available for use in VeraCrypt are BLAKE2s-256, SHA-256, SHA-512, Streebog and Whirlpool.[10] VeraCrypt used to have support for RIPEMD-160 but it has since been removed in version 1.26.[11]

VeraCrypt's block cipher mode of operation is XTS.[12] It generates the header key and the secondary header key (XTS mode) using PBKDF2 with a 512-bit salt. By default they go through 200,000 to 500,000 iterations, depending on the underlying hash function used and whether it is system or non-system encryption.[13] The user can customize it to start as low as 2,048 and 16,000 respectively.

Security improvements

VeraCrypt audit

QuarksLab conducted an audit of version 1.18 on behalf of the Open Source Technology Improvement Fund (OSTIF), which took 32 man-days. The auditor published the results on 17 October 2016.[24] [25] On the same day, IDRIX released version 1.19, which resolved major vulnerabilities identified in the audit.[26]

Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology (SIT) conducted another audit in 2020, following a request by Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), and published the results in October 2020.[27] [28]

Security precautions

There are several kinds of attacks to which all software-based disk encryption is vulnerable. As with TrueCrypt, the VeraCrypt documentation instructs users to follow various security precautions to mitigate these attacks,[29] several of which are detailed below.

Encryption keys stored in memory

See main article: Cold boot attack. VeraCrypt stores its keys in RAM; on some personal computers DRAM will maintain its contents for several seconds after power is cut (or longer if the temperature is lowered). Even if there is some degradation in the memory contents, various algorithms may be able to recover the keys. This method, known as a cold boot attack (which would apply in particular to a notebook computer obtained while in power-on, suspended, or screen-locked mode), was successfully used to attack a file system protected by TrueCrypt versions 4.3a and 5.0a in 2008.[30] With version 1.24, VeraCrypt added the option of encrypting the in-RAM keys and passwords on x64 editions of Windows, with a CPU overhead of less than 10%, and the option of erasing all encryption keys from memory when a new device is connected.

Tampered hardware

See main article: Evil maid attack. VeraCrypt documentation states that VeraCrypt is unable to secure data on a computer if an attacker physically accessed it and VeraCrypt is then used on the compromised computer by the user again. This does not affect the common case of a stolen, lost, or confiscated computer.[31] The attacker having physical access to a computer can, for example, install a hardware or a software keylogger, a bus-mastering device capturing memory or install any other malicious hardware or software, allowing the attacker to capture unencrypted data (including encryption keys and passwords) or to decrypt encrypted data using captured passwords or encryption keys. Therefore, physical security is a basic premise of a secure system.[32]

Some kinds of malware are designed to log keystrokes, including typed passwords, that may then be sent to the attacker over the Internet or saved to an unencrypted local drive from which the attacker might be able to read it later, when they gain physical access to the computer.[33]

Trusted Platform Module

VeraCrypt does not take advantage of Trusted Platform Module (TPM). VeraCrypt FAQ repeats the negative opinion of the original TrueCrypt developers verbatim.[34] The TrueCrypt developers were of the opinion that the exclusive purpose of the TPM is "to protect against attacks that require the attacker to have administrator privileges, or physical access to the computer". The attacker who has physical or administrative access to a computer can circumvent TPM, e.g., by installing a hardware keystroke logger, by resetting TPM, or by capturing memory contents and retrieving TPM-issued keys. The condemning text goes so far as to claim that TPM is entirely redundant.[35]

It is true that after achieving either unrestricted physical access or administrative privileges, it is only a matter of time before other security measures in place are bypassed.[36] [37] However, stopping an attacker in possession of administrative privileges has never been one of the goals of TPM. (See for details.) TPM might, however, reduce the success rate of the cold boot attack described above.[38] [39] [40] [41] [42] TPM is also known to be susceptible to SPI attacks.[43]

Plausible deniability

As with its predecessor TrueCrypt, VeraCrypt supports plausible deniability[44] by allowing a single "hidden volume" to be created within another volume.[45] The Windows versions of VeraCrypt can create and run a hidden encrypted operating system whose existence may be denied.[46] The VeraCrypt documentation lists ways in which the hidden volume deniability features may be compromised (e.g., by third-party software which may leak information through temporary files or via thumbnails) and possible ways to avoid this.[47]

Performance

VeraCrypt supports parallelized[48] encryption for multi-core systems. On Microsoft Windows, pipelined read and write operations (a form of asynchronous processing) to reduce the performance hit of encryption and decryption. On processors supporting the AES-NI instruction set, VeraCrypt supports hardware-accelerated AES to further improve performance. On 64-bit CPUs VeraCrypt uses optimized assembly implementation of Twofish, Serpent, and Camellia.

License and source model

VeraCrypt was forked from the since-discontinued TrueCrypt project in 2013, and originally contained mostly TrueCrypt code released under the TrueCrypt License 3.0. In the years since, more and more of VeraCrypt's code has been rewritten and released under the permissive Apache License 2.0.

The TrueCrypt license is generally considered to be source-available but not free and open source. The Apache license is universally considered to be free and open source. The mixed VeraCrypt license is widely but not universally considered to be free and open source.

On 28 May 2014 TrueCrypt ceased development under unusual circumstances,[49] [50] [51] and there exists no way to contact the former developers.

VeraCrypt is considered to be free and open source by:

VeraCrypt is considered to not be free and open source by:

Most of these are due to Veracrypt and Truecrypt not having supported or endorsed licenses. For example, the FSF does not tolerate licenses that impose obligations on the end user for the execution of the software and therefore go against The Free Software Definition.[63] Debian considers all software that does not meet the guidelines of its DFSG to be non-free.

Legal cases

In US v. Burns, the defendant had three hard drives, the first being a system partition which was later found to contain caches of deleted child pornography and manuals for how to use VeraCrypt, with the second being encrypted, and the third having miscellaneous music files. Even though the defendant admitted to having child pornography on his second hard drive, he refused to give the password to the authorities. Despite searching for clues of previously used passwords on the first drive, and inquiries to the FBI about any weaknesses to the VeraCrypt software that could be used to access the drive partition, and brute-forcing the partition with the alphanumeric character set as potential passwords, the partition could not be accessed. Due to the defendant confessing to having child pornography on the encrypted drive, the prosecution applied to force the defendant to give away the password under the foregone conclusion doctrine in the All Writs Act.

In a search of a Californian defendant's apartment for accessing child pornography, a VeraCrypt drive that was over 900 Gigabytes was found as an external hard drive. The FBI was called to assist local law enforcement, but the FBI claimed to not have found a weakness in the VeraCrypt software. The FBI also denied having a backdoor within the VeraCrypt software. It was later found that another suspect had educated the defendant into using encryption to hide his photos and videos of child pornography. Because the defendant had admitted to having child pornography on the drive as a backup anyways and chat logs relating to the other suspect educating the defendant on how to use VeraCrypt, the foregone conclusion doctrine was used again.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Contact Us – IDRIX . 16 November 2016.
  2. Web site: VeraCrypt - Free Open source disk encryption with strong security for the Paranoid . Veracrypt . 2022-05-07.
  3. Web site: root/License.txt. VeraCrypt. TrueCrypt Foundation. 17 Oct 2016. 23 Jul 2018.
  4. https://veracrypt.fr "VeraCrypt Official Site"
  5. Web site: VeraCrypt Volume . VeraCrypt Official Website . February 16, 2015.
  6. Web site: Operating Systems Supported for System Encryption . February 16, 2015 . VeraCrypt Official Website.
  7. Web site: VeraCrypt a Worthy TrueCrypt Alternative. Rubens. Paul. October 13, 2014. eSecurity Planet. Quinstreet Enterprise. https://web.archive.org/web/20181203174924/https://www.esecurityplanet.com/open-source-security/veracrypt-a-worthy-truecrypt-alternative.html. December 3, 2018. live. February 16, 2015.
  8. Web site: Audit sees VeraCrypt kill critical password recovery, cipher flaws. Pauli. Darren. October 18, 2016. The Register. https://web.archive.org/web/20181115210126/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/10/18/veracrypt_audit/. November 15, 2018. live.
  9. Web site: Encryption Algorithms . VeraCrypt Documentation . IDRIX . 2018-03-31.
  10. Web site: Hash Algorithms . VeraCrypt Documentation . IDRIX . 2024-01-14.
  11. Web site: Changelog . Changelog . IDRIX . 2024-01-18.
  12. Web site: Modes of Operation . VeraCrypt Documentation . IDRIX . 2018-03-31.
  13. Web site: Header Key Derivation, Salt, and Iteration Count . VeraCrypt Documentation . IDRIX . 2019-02-19.
  14. https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Release%20Notes.html "VeraCrypt Release Notes"
  15. Castle. Alex. March 2015. Where Are We At With TrueCrypt?. Maximum PC. 59.
  16. Web site: VeraCrypt - Free Open source disk encryption with strong security for the Paranoid . 2023-09-12 . www.veracrypt.fr.
  17. Web site: Newly found TrueCrypt flaw allows full system compromise. Constantin. Lucian. September 29, 2015. PCWorld. https://web.archive.org/web/20190419205510/https://www.pcworld.com/article/2987439/newly-found-truecrypt-flaw-allows-full-system-compromise.html. April 19, 2019. live.
  18. http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2016/q1/58 CVE-2016-1281: TrueCrypt and VeraCrypt Windows installers allow arbitrary code execution with elevation of privilege
  19. Web site: VeraCrypt a worthy TrueCrypt Alternative. Rubens. Paul. June 30, 2016. eSecurity Planet. https://web.archive.org/web/20181203174924/https://www.esecurityplanet.com/open-source-security/veracrypt-a-worthy-truecrypt-alternative.html. December 3, 2018. live.
  20. Web site: PIM. veracrypt.fr. 7 June 2017.
  21. Web site: Encryption Software VeraCrypt 1.12 Adds New PIM Feature To Boost Password Security. Khandelwal. Swati. 11 August 2015. The Hacker News. https://web.archive.org/web/20190410112025/https://thehackernews.com/2015/08/veracrypt-encryption-software.html. 10 April 2019. live. 5 June 2017.
  22. Web site: TrueCrypt alternative VeraCrypt 1.12 ships with interesting PIM feature. Brinkmann. Martin. 7 August 2015. Ghacks. https://web.archive.org/web/20190410112158/https://www.ghacks.net/2015/08/07/truecrypt-alternative-veracrypt-1-12-ships-with-interesting-pim-feature/. 10 April 2019. live. 5 June 2017.
  23. Web site: Transcript of Episode #582. GRC.com. 5 June 2017.
  24. Web site: The VeraCrypt Audit Results. October 17, 2016. OSTIF. https://web.archive.org/web/20190512115033/https://ostif.org/the-veracrypt-audit-results/. May 12, 2019. live. October 18, 2016.
  25. VeraCrypt 1.18 Security Assessment. QuarksLab. October 17, 2016. OSTIF. October 18, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20180807063348/https://blog.quarkslab.com/resources/2016-10-17-audit-veracrypt/16-08-215-REP-VeraCrypt-sec-assessment.pdf. August 7, 2018. live.
  26. Web site: Security Assessment of VeraCrypt: fixes and evolutions from TrueCrypt. Bédrune. Jean-Baptiste. Videau. Marion. October 17, 2016. QuarksLab. https://web.archive.org/web/20190507093814/https://blog.quarkslab.com/security-assessment-of-veracrypt-fixes-and-evolutions-from-truecrypt.html. May 7, 2019. live. October 18, 2016.
  27. Web site: VeraCrypt / Forums / General Discussion: Germany BSI Security Evaluation of VeraCrypt. 2021-12-01. sourceforge.net.
  28. Web site: Security Evaluation of VeraCrypt . Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) . 2020-11-30 . 2022-07-27.
  29. Web site: Security Requirements and Precautions . IDRIX . VeraCrypt Documentation . February 16, 2015.
  30. Halderman. J. Alex. Alex Halderman. Schoen. Seth D.. Heninger. Nadia. Clarkson. William. Paul. William. Calandrino. Joseph A.. Feldman. Ariel J.. Appelbaum. Jacob. Felten. Edward W.. 1. July 2008. Lest We Remember: Cold Boot Attacks on Encryption Keys. live. 17th USENIX Security Symposium. https://web.archive.org/web/20190512072757/https://www.usenix.org/legacy/event/sec08/tech/full_papers/halderman/halderman.pdf. May 12, 2019.
  31. Web site: Physical Security . VeraCrypt Documentation . IDRIX . 2015-01-04 . 2015-01-04 .
  32. Web site: "Evil Maid" Attacks on Encrypted Hard Drives. Schneier. Bruce. Bruce Schneier. October 23, 2009. Schneier on Security. https://web.archive.org/web/20140525232424/https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/10/evil_maid_attac.html. May 25, 2014. live. May 24, 2014.
  33. Web site: Malware . VeraCrypt Documentation . IDRIX . 2015-01-04 . 2015-01-04 .
  34. Web site: 2 July 2017 . FAQ . veracrypt.fr . IDRIX.
  35. Web site: 7 February 2012 . TrueCrypt User Guide . truecrypt.org . TrueCrypt Foundation . 129 . grc.com.
  36. Web site: Culp . Scott . 2000 . Ten Immutable Laws Of Security (Version 2.0) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151209191417/https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh278941.aspx . 9 December 2015 . . . Microsoft TechNet.
  37. Web site: Johansson . Jesper M. . October 2008 . Security Watch Revisiting the 10 Immutable Laws of Security, Part 1 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170410043155/https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/2008.10.securitywatch.aspx . 10 April 2017 . . . Microsoft TechNet.
  38. Web site: 2013 . LUKS support for storing keys in TPM NVRAM . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20130916075234/https://github.com/shpedoikal/tpm-luks . September 16, 2013 . December 19, 2013 . github.com.
  39. Web site: Greene . James . 2012 . Intel Trusted Execution Technology . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140611161421/http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/white-papers/trusted-execution-technology-security-paper.pdf . June 11, 2014 . December 18, 2013 . Intel . white paper.
  40. Book: Autonomic and Trusted Computing: 4th International Conference . ATC . 2007 . 9783540735465 . Google Books . May 31, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200819025756/https://books.google.com/books?id=cUhpq98Zb8AC&pg=PA124 . August 19, 2020 . live.
  41. Book: Pearson . Siani . Trusted computing platforms: TCPA technology in context . Balacheff . Boris . Prentice Hall . 2002 . 978-0-13-009220-5 . July 21, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170325040326/https://books.google.com/books?id=EWk2pLY7atgC . March 25, 2017 . live.
  42. Web site: SetPhysicalPresenceRequest Method of the Win32_Tpm Class . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20090519204808/http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa376478(VS.85).aspx . May 19, 2009 . June 12, 2009 . Microsoft.
  43. Web site: 2022 . TPM Sniffing Attacks Against Non-Bitlocker Targets . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220630103114/https://www.secura.com/blog/tpm-sniffing-attacks-against-non-bitlocker-targets . June 30, 2022 . November 30, 2022 . secura.com.
  44. Web site: Plausible Deniability . VeraCrypt Documentation . IDRIX . 2018-03-31.
  45. Web site: Hidden Volume . VeraCrypt Documentation . IDRIX . 2018-03-31.
  46. Web site: Hidden Operating System . VeraCrypt Documentation . IDRIX . 2018-03-31.
  47. Web site: Security Requirements and Precautions Pertaining to Hidden Volumes . VeraCrypt Documentation . IDRIX . 2018-03-31.
  48. Web site: VeraCrypt User Guide. IDRIX. 2015-01-04 . 1.0f.
  49. Web site: Encryption software TrueCrypt closes doors in odd circumstances . Buchanan . Bill . May 30, 2014 . . April 9, 2022 .
  50. The Strange Origins of TrueCrypt, ISIS's Favored Encryption Tool . Ratliff . Evan . March 30, 2016 . The New Yorker . April 9, 2022 .
  51. Web site: The Fall of TrueCrypt and Rise of VeraCrypt . Buchanan . Bill . Nov 5, 2018 . medium.com . Medium . April 9, 2022 .
  52. Web site: Critical flaws found in open-source encryption software VeraCrypt . Constantin . Lucian . October 18, 2016 . pcworld.com . PC World . April 9, 2022 .
  53. Web site: How to Encrypt Files, Folders and Drives on Windows . Long . Heinrich . August 3, 2020 . techspot.com . Techspot . April 9, 2022 .
  54. Web site: DuckDuckGo Gives $225,000 to Open Source Projects . Hall . Christine . May 4, 2016 . fossforce.com . FOSS Force . April 9, 2022 .
  55. Web site: A Special Thank You to DuckDuckGo for Supporting OSTIF and VeraCrypt . . May 3, 2016 . ostif.org . Open Source Technology Fund . April 9, 2022 .
  56. Web site: Need strong security? VeraCrypt is an open source disk encryption software that gives extra security against brute-force attacks . . February 8, 2020 . sourceforge.net . SourceForge . April 9, 2022 .
  57. Web site: Privacy and anonymity-enhancing operating system Tails continued the implementation of open-source disk encryption software VeraCrypt into the GNOME user interface . McDevitt . Dan . July 18, 2018 . opentech.fund . Open Technology Fund . April 9, 2022 .
  58. Web site: VeraCrypt is a free, open source disk encryption program . . Jan 17, 2021 . fosshub.com . FOSSHub . April 9, 2022 .
  59. Web site: VeraCrypt offers open source file-encryption with cross-platform capabilities . Kenlon . Seth . April 12, 2021 . opensource.com . opensource.com . April 9, 2022 .
  60. Web site: Veracrypt – An Open Source Cross-Platform Disk Encryption Tool . Afolabi . Jesse . March 5, 2021 . fossmint.com . FOSSMINT . April 9, 2022 .
  61. Web site: Debian Bug report logs - #814352: ITP: veracrypt -- Cross-platform on-the-fly encryption . bugs.debian.org . 10 February 2016.
  62. Web site: Nonfree Software Licenses . . January 12, 2022 . gnu.org . Free Software Foundation Licensing and Compliance Lab . April 9, 2022.
  63. Web site: Various Licenses and Comments about Them . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221230220836/https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html . 2022-12-30 . Free Software Foundation.

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