FreeOTFE
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FreeOTFE v4.50 |
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| Developed by | Sarah Dean | ||
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| Latest release | v4.60 / February 19, 2009 | ||
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows and PocketPC | ||
| Available in | English, German, Italian | ||
| Type | Transparent disk encryption | ||
| License | Open source[1] | ||
| Website | www.FreeOTFE.org | ||
FreeOTFE is an "on-the-fly" disk encryption (OTFE — On The Fly Encryption) program for PCs running MS Windows and Windows Mobile PDAs (FreeOTFE4PDA). It creates "virtual disks" - anything written to which is automatically encrypted before being stored on the computer's hard drive or USB drive.
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[edit] Overview
FreeOTFE was initially released by Sarah Dean in 2004, and was the first open source disk encryption system that provided a modular architecture allowing 3rd parties to implement additional algorithms if required.
This software is compatible with Linux encrypted volumes (e.g. LUKS, cryptoloop, dm-crypt), allowing data encrypted under Linux to be read (and written) freely. It was the first open source transparent disk encryption system to support Windows Vista and PDAs [2]
Optional two-factor authentication using smart cards and/or hardware security modules (HSMs - also known as security tokens)[3] was introduced in v4.0, using the PKCS#11 (Cryptoki) standard developed by RSA Laboratories.
FreeOTFE also allows any number of "hidden volumes" to be created, giving plausible deniability and deniable encryption, and also has the option of encrypting entire partitions or disks[4]
[edit] Algorithms implemented
Due to its architecture, FreeOTFE provides great flexibility to the user with its encryption options.
[edit] Ciphers
There are a number of ciphers implemented in FreeOTFE, including:
All of the NIST AES finalists are included in FreeOTFE, and all of the ciphers can be used with multiple different keylengths
[edit] Cipher modes
Originally FreeOTFE offered encryption using CBC with ESSIV, though from v3.00 introduced LRW and also the more secure XTS mode, which supersedes LRW in the IEEE P1619 standard for disk encryption.
[edit] Hashes
As with its cipher options, FreeOTFE offers many different hash algorithms:
[edit] References
- ^ Previous versions of FreeOTFE required that any modifications to the program were placed into the public domain, which meant that technically it didn't conform to section 3 of the Open Source definition. Newer versions don't have this requirement.
- ^ FreeOTFE version history
- ^ Security Token/Smartcard Support
- ^ Partition/Entire Disk Based Volumes
[edit] See also
- Disk encryption
- Disk encryption software
- Full disk encryption
- Comparison of disk encryption software
