[ Thanks to Jim
Reavis for this link. ]
“Part two of Kurt Seifried’s three part series on Linux
encryption details the products and issues surrounding filesystem
encryption.“
“As mentioned in my previous column, a data security solution
isn?t complete without data encryption. If (when) an attacker
manages to circumvent file permissions, or simply gets ahold of
some backup tapes (you do keep them locked up?) he can now easily
access your data. Adding encryption to the equation will provide
another layer of security, one that will slow down all attackers
and usually stop most. Current encryption is not unbreakable, but
it will protect the data for a period of time (depending on key
size and the strength of the algorithm this can be a very long
time).”
“There are several ways for a user to keep their files
encrypted. The simplest is to have them simply store files as they
normally would and use tools, such as PGP, to encrypt and decrypt
them as needed. The next step up from this involves programs that
make use of the local loopback facility in Linux…”