>I would like to encrypt as much of my harddrive as possible not only
>the $HOME directory. If i could decide I would like to have also the
>root partition encrypted but i see that it encounters problems. Has
>anyone done experiments on this ? How much can you encrypt ? I was
>thinking that there could be some kind of kernelpatch that allows you
>to only have LILO and the kernel on an unencryted part of the HD.
>I would like some feedback and suggestions.
>
>I�m an encryption fanatic and now that i have a laptop it has gone even
>further ;), (just as long as i�m aware of it)
Encrypting every file on the HD will actually make it easier to
decrypt the HD. The key to decryption is knowing what the decrypted
file looks like. Once you know that, it's MUCH easier to find the
en/decryption algorithm (and/or password), and, of course, once you
know that, it's a piece of cake to read any encrypted file.
If you only encrypt your files, the best a hacker can do is guess that
the files are text files and contain the usual English patterns.
If you encrypt every file on the HD, a hacker just has to look at any
standard file and work backward from there.