this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2025

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162

Do you encrypt your drives and why or why not? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 days ago by monovergent@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml

226 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I was recently intrigued to learn that only half of the respondents to a survey said that they used disk encryption. Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows have been increasingly using encryption by default. On the other hand, while most Linux installers I've encountered include the option to encrypt, it is not selected by default.

Whether it's a test bench, beater laptop, NAS, or daily driver, I encrypt for peace of mind. Whatever I end up doing on my machines, I can be pretty confident my data won't end up in the wrong hands if the drive is stolen or lost and can be erased by simply overwriting the LUKS header. Recovering from an unbootable state or copying files out from an encrypted boot drive only takes a couple more commands compared to an unencrypted setup.

But that's just me and I'm curious to hear what other reasons to encrypt or not to encrypt are out there.

(page 5) 27 comments

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[–] CsXGF8uzUAOh6fqV@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

I don't, I didn't do it back then and I ended up using this system for much longer than I thought I would(4+ years). I want to do it next time but I don't feel like reinstalling just for that.

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[–] Extrasvhx9he@lemmy.today 1 points 3 days ago

Yeah all my drives are encrypted with LUKS mostly because of home burglaries (bad area and whatnot). I still keep backups regardless on drives that are also encrypted

[–] sic_semper_tyrannis@lemmy.today 1 points 3 days ago

I always encrypt my computer SSD as well as my external backup drive. I just wish that when installing a Linux distro and when selecting encryption that it would work with multiple drives

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

No need as none of them are networked

[–] 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Do you physically crush and grind your drives once they are end-of-life?

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

I usually degauss them

[–] 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

SSDs?

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[–] loudWaterEnjoyer@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

I was recently intrigued to learn that only half of the respondents to a survey said that they used NO disk encryption.

Is the other half alright?

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[–] obsolete@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (4 children)

No. I prefer the quickest way to share my data between different computers and operating systems on my home network. I will also mention that my network is not accessible over the internet.

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[–] Ulrich@feddit.org -1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Because it requires generating, memorizing and entering a secure password. Because Linux typically doesn't support fingerprint readers or other biometrics.

[–] 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

You can just store the key in your TPM and then you don't have to memorize anything.

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 1 points 3 days ago

Is that near the TPS reports?

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