Encrypted disk image no longer demands password

Some time ago I created an encrypted disk image for storing sensitive data. It has been working fine for months, everytime I clicked on it it demanded that I enter the password before it mounted. But suddenly yesterday it stopped demanding he password and would just mount upon clicking. Tried restart, no change. Tried repairing the disk permisssions, no change. In the meantime, I have created a new encrypted disk, moved all the info to that, and secure-trashed the old one. But this gives me pause for thought. Not terribly secure! Anybody know what might have happened? How can an encrypted disk suddenly become unencrypted?

No, there's no other explanation, unless someone tampered with your account. Launch the Keychain Access application and look for a password item in your login keychain with the name of the image file.

Similar Messages

Encrypted disk image sometimes mounts without password

I have an encrypted sparsebundle disk image containing sensitive information. On occasion (maybe one time out of ten), I'm able to mount it without being prompted for the password.
The password for the image is not stored in my keychain. Can anyone offer advice on this issue?

I was having exactly this same problem!
I keep a small encrypted disk image storing sensitive banking information. I do NOT have the option to store passwords in Keychain checked, and I verified that the password is not being stored in Keychain.
Yet, when I double-clicked the supposedly encrypted sparsebundle disk image, it opened right up and mounted - no password required! Unbelievable, right? So I started to investigate.
I first noticed this behaviour in Mountain Lion, I'm running 10.8.4 on a 2.7 GHz 15" MBPr.
In past versions of OS X I would mount the volume to work on it by double-clicking on the disk image, enter my passowrd, and then Eject the volume either by dragging to the trash or clicking the Eject button on the Sidebar. The next time I would try to access the disk image by double-clicking it, it would again prompt for a password. All good.
What seems to be happening in ML is, using the same workflow, even though the volume is disappearing from Finder, the disk image is not actually being unmounted!
When I go to Disk Utility, the disk image is still mounted, but the volume is grayed out. When I Eject the disk image in Disk Utility, it then reverts to the expected bahaviour, and double-clicking on the disk prompts for a password.
So the workaround seems to be when finished working on the volume, go to Disk Utility and manually Eject the disk image (as opposed to just the volume it mounts) to ensure it has unmounted and is thus again encrypted. The reason for it sometimes requiring a password, sometimes not is probably because after a restart of the computer it would unmount all disks, and then be unable to re-mount it until the password is entered. But in between, unless you were aware of this behaviour anyone with access to the disk image can view its contents.
What a terrible security flaw IMO, as there is no visual indication in Finder that the disk image is still unprotected after you unmount its volume and that icon disappears! I'm surprised this hasn't gotten more attention.
Incidentally brian_c, I tried to look at your linked videos but it returns the message that the videos violated the TOS of the site...?

Lost password for encrypted disk image

i created a encrypted disk image to store some personal files and now i can not remember my password and its not in my key chain is there a way to reset the password or at least recover the files.

If you could access the files on an encrypted disk image without knowing the password, there wouldn't be much point in encrypting it.
Do you remember anything at all about the password? Was it a name, or a dictionary word? If so, there might be hope of cracking it before the Earth passes away. You'd need the help of a consultant to do that.

Encrypted disk image mounting

I'm trying to find a way to make an AppleScript that will mount an encrypted disk image and enter the password for it automatically. I can make it open all right, but I can't figure out how to make it enter the password (the 'with password' command doesn't seem to work, I'm assuming it only works on remote volumes?).
Any help would be appreciated.

Something like this should work:
<pre>
set myResult to display dialog "Enter password:" default answer "" with hidden answer
set thePW to text returned of myResult
set cmd to "echo -n \"" & thePW & "\" | hdiutil attach /path/to/encrypted/disk/image.dmg -stdinpass"
do shell script cmd
</pre>
There are some security concerns with passing a command string to "do shell script" that contains your password. If other users log on to your machine they could see your password if they happened to be watching the process list at just the right time.
Steve

Encrypted disk image from ****

So i made an encrypted disk image and forgot the password.
The disk image:
Size: 100 mb
Format: Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)
Encryption: 25-bit AES
Partition: Single partition-Apple partition map
..and no, i didnt save the password on my keychain
...(you can stop laughing now :P )
I´ve been in contact with Apple Care and we spent about 3 hours trying loads of things with no luck.
I know im more or less f*ed, but i know there is a lot of smart ppl on this forum.
If anyone has idea, no matter how crazy, im willing to try it.

Hi Worm76;
My suggestion is forget about what was in the encrypted disk image. Write it off as lost.
It would take someone like the NSA to get it back for you and I doubt very much that you have anything in there to interest them.
Allan

Password no longer works with encrypted disk image.

I have an encrypted disk image on my macbook pro. I enter the password every time I open the disk image. Last week it stopped accepting the password. I checked in keychain where I'd saved the PW when first creating the disk image and verified I was entering what was saved there. It matched what I've been entering but still no luck. I attenpted to pull an old version of the disk image from time machine and that still won't open with what I know is the password I've always used.
Any tips?

try doing SMC reset the following article tells how to do that:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
after doing this reset try again to enter the password for the disk image, if it still doesn't work there is no way to bypass the passcode on the disk. the following article talk about filevault:
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH3683

Encrypted Disk Image mounts without Password

I've created a new encrypted disk image so that I can store sensitive documents and did it carefully, step by step,(per instructions from www.macworld.com/2425) but after I unmounted, then remount, it doesn't ask me for a password. It just mounts as if it were a regular file. Am I suppose to unmount the volume and drag the disk image to the trash? I don't know what else to try.

The Mac uses and encrypted database of keys called the "Keychain". When you login, it opens the "login" keychain using your login password. That keychain can be used to provide passwords for applications and services, and form data for web sites. In this particular case, the password for your encrypted disk image is being stored in the keychain and automatically provided.
If another user attempted to open the disk image, the disk image mounter would first look in his keychain and then the system keychain for a key to open it with. Finding none, it would prompt the user to specify the key (password). If the user supplies the correct password, the system would put it in his keychain for safe keeping, and the user would then be able to open the image again without supplying the password.
You can remove the key from your keychain by opening up /Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access, selecting the "login" keychain, and then looking for an entry with a name that matches the .dmg file in question. Highlight it, and then press the delete key to delete it. The next time you attempt to open it, it will prompt you for a password.

Encrypted Disk Image to Password Protect Folder Not Working!

I have followed the instructions exactly for creating a Disk Image in order to password protect a folder. Folder contains multiple types of files including images, pdfs, etc. Here is what I've done and what happens:
In Disk Utility I created a New Disk Image from Folder. I chose the folder, which I have on my Desktop, and clicked Image. I gave the Disk Image a new name, placed in on my Desktop, indicated the image format as read/write and chose the 128-bit encryption. I chose a very strong password and unchecked the remember password box. At this point, all seems to have gone well.
Now, back to my Desktop. I have two things going on.
1. The initial folder that I wanted password protected is still present. Am I supposed to just send this to the Trash?
2. When I double click on the the new .dmg file that I've created, I am asked for my password, which I put in. Then, nothing. I mean, nothing happens. It doesn't open, it doesn't do anything. I can click on it and choose Open with DickImageMounter, and nothing happens. I can open with Disk Utility, but this just gives me the normal options to eject, burn, restore, etc.
I don't know why I can't get this to work properly, and I'm a little annoyed that Apple can't make it as simple as selecting a folder and having the option to password protect it, just like you can a normal file. PLEASE HELP!
Thanks.

As of OS X 10.7.4, Disk Utility had a bug that prevented it from creating an encrypted disk image with a password of more than 10 characters. I haven't checked recently to see whether that bug has been fixed, but from your report it seems not to have been. There is a workaround, but it's complicated.

Password fails in encrypted disk image

I created a 300 mb encrypted disk image using 10.4.x, about 9 months ago, now I am running 10.5.2 and everytime I try to open the image and type in the password (the correct password I have been using for years) iI get an authentification error. I know Im using the correct password, any ideas what happened here. Could the image be corupted but still want me to authenticate?
I have not tried to open the file since Dec. 17th (via last modified date) I have check all the permissions on the eternal drive where the file is stored... also ran Techtool on the drive and found no errors... I am out of ideas...

I have encountered the same problem on two protected disk image files as well. Once in January and then again a few days ago.
I first thought that the first lockout was a fluke. Now after the second image lockout I'm very vary of opening another encrypted backup. I'm losing data. Even copies of the .dmg on different drives fail to authenticate. Searching for answers I found this thread.
Is it possible that a kernel panic / forced shutdown can corrupt an encrypted file? I wonder, but my encrypted home directory (FileVault sparsebundle) is fine.
Any insights would be appreciated.
This is my log:
Last login: Sun May 11 07:35:13 on ttys000
kevin:~ kevin$ hdiutil attach -debug /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg calling DIHLDiskImageAttach with
agent: hdiutil
drive-options:
debug: true
image-options:
verbose: false
quiet: false
main-url: /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
2008-05-12 18:11:17.015 hdiutil[1745:1c03] using helper tool at "/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DiskImages.framework/Resources/diskimages-he lper".
2008-05-12 18:11:17.040 hdiutil[1745:1c03] connectToFramework
2008-05-12 18:11:17.141 hdiutil[1745:1c03] sendOperationToHelper: about to ask proxy to start operation
status proc called: initialize
2008-05-12 18:11:17.173 diskimages-helper[1747:1603] _imageOptions: {
"enable-keychain" = 1;
2008-05-12 18:11:17.176 diskimages-helper[1747:1603] _driveOptions: {
autodiskmount = 1;
"unmount-timeout" = 0;
2008-05-12 18:11:17.178 diskimages-helper[1747:1603] DIHelperAttach: initializing framework
DILoadDriver: checking for disk image driver...DILoadDriver: DI_kextExists() returned 0x00000000 (0)...DIIsInitialized: returning NO2008-05-12 18:11:17.188 diskimages-helper[1747:1603] -checkForPreviouslyAttachedImage: entry
2008-05-12 18:11:17.189 diskimages-helper[1747:1603]
file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg - (null) ((null), (null)). perm=0
DIIsInitialized: returning YESDIBackingStoreNewWithCFURL: entry with
file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
skip-permissions-check: true
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: entry
file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
skip-permissions-check: true
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: probing interface 0 CBSDBackingStore
CBSDBackingStore::newProbe score 100 for file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: probing interface 1 CBundleBackingStore
CBundleBackingStore::newProbe score -1000 for file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: probing interface 2 CRAMBackingStore
CRAMBackingStore::probe: scheme "file": not ram: or ramdisk: scheme.
CRAMBackingStore::probe: score -1000 for file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: probing interface 3 CCarbonBackingStore
CCarbonBackingStore::newProbe: setting initial rval to +100
CCarbonBackingStore::newProbe: has resource fork, +100
CCarbonBackingStore::newProbe score 200 for file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: probing interface 4 CDevBackingStore
CDevBackingStore::newProbe: not /dev/disk or /dev/rdisk (/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg).CDevBackingStore::newProbe score -1000 for
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: probing interface 5 CCURLBackingStore
CCURLBackingStore::probe: scheme is
file
CCURLBackingStore::probe: not recognized URL scheme.
CCURLBackingStore::probe: score -1000 for file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: probing interface 6 CVectoredBackingStore
CVectoredBackingStore::newProbe not "vectored" scheme.
CVectoredBackingStore::newProbe score -1000 for file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIBackingStoreNewWithCFURL: CCarbonBackingStore
DIBackingStoreNewWithCFURL: instantiator returned 0
DIBackingStoreNewWithCFURL: returning 0x00000000
2008-05-12 18:11:17.190 diskimages-helper[1747:1603] -checkForPreviouslyAttachedImage: resolving file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg returned 0
2008-05-12 18:11:17.191 diskimages-helper[1747:1603] -checkForPreviouslyAttachedImage: imageUID (
"d234881039:i8914"
) shadowUID (null)
*** testing:
0: d234881039:i9111
(null)
(null)
*** testing:
0: d234881039:i9111
(null)
(null)
*** testing:
0: d234881039:i9111
(null)
(null)
2008-05-12 18:11:17.194 diskimages-helper[1747:1603] DIHelperAttach: resolving disk image
DIIsInitialized: returning YESDIIsInitialized: returning YESDIBackingStoreNewWithCFURL: entry with
file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
enable-keychain: true
image-path: /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: entry
file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
enable-keychain: true
image-path: /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: probing interface 0 CBSDBackingStore
CBSDBackingStore::newProbe score 100 for file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: probing interface 1 CBundleBackingStore
CBundleBackingStore::newProbe score -1000 for file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: probing interface 2 CRAMBackingStore
CRAMBackingStore::probe: scheme "file": not ram: or ramdisk: scheme.
CRAMBackingStore::probe: score -1000 for file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: probing interface 3 CCarbonBackingStore
CCarbonBackingStore::newProbe: setting initial rval to +100
CCarbonBackingStore::newProbe: has resource fork, +100
CCarbonBackingStore::newProbe score 200 for file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: probing interface 4 CDevBackingStore
CDevBackingStore::newProbe: not /dev/disk or /dev/rdisk (/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg).CDevBackingStore::newProbe score -1000 for
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: probing interface 5 CCURLBackingStore
CCURLBackingStore::probe: scheme is
file
CCURLBackingStore::probe: not recognized URL scheme.
CCURLBackingStore::probe: score -1000 for file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIBackingStoreInstantiatorProbe: probing interface 6 CVectoredBackingStore
CVectoredBackingStore::newProbe not "vectored" scheme.
CVectoredBackingStore::newProbe score -1000 for file://localhost/Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIBackingStoreNewWithCFURL: CCarbonBackingStore
opening /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg setPermission 1723
CBSDBackingStore::OpenLockFriendly: mapping flags 0x00000002 -> 0x00000026 (locks are MANDATORY)
(RW lock acquired)
closing /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg setPermission 1731
DIBackingStoreNewWithCFURL: instantiator returned 0
DIBackingStoreNewWithCFURL: returning 0x00000000
DIResolveURLToBackingStore: processing level 1 encodings.
DIFileEncodingNewWithBackingStore: entry for encoding level 1
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: entry for level 1
enable-keychain: true
image-path: /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: probing level 1 interface 0 CMacBinaryEncoding
CBSDBackingStore::openDataFork: about to open /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
opening /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg openDataFork 1904
CBSDBackingStore::OpenLockFriendly: mapping flags 0x00000002 -> 0x00000026 (locks are MANDATORY)
(RW lock acquired)
closing 3 /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg closeDataFork 1984
00000000: 656e 6372 6364 7361 0000 0002 0000 0010 | encrcdsa........ |
00000010: 0000 0005 8000 0001 0000 0100 0000 005b | ...............[ |
00000020: 0000 00a0 548a 2877 86c1 4f17 877b cf66 | ....T.(w..O..{.f |
00000030: beea 6066 0000 1000 0000 0002 780e 1734 | ..`f........x..4 |
00000040: 0000 0000 0001 e000 0000 0001 0000 0001 | ................ |
00000050: 0000 0000 0000 0060 0000 0000 0000 0268 | .......`.......h |
00000060: 0000 0067 0000 0000 0000 03e8 0000 0014 | ...g............ |
00000070: d369 cd83 75e8 bb7c 72e5 020d fdd3 68a9 | .i..u..|r.....h. |
diskimages-helper: fileNameLength $0000006E
diskimages-helper: resourceForkLength $60000000
diskimages-helper: dataForkLength $00000000
diskimages-helper: commentLength $00006700
diskimages-helper: MacBinary III signature (0x00000000)
diskimages-helper: header CRC $0000FDD3
diskimages-helper: minimum decoder version $0000000D
diskimages-helper: encoder version $00000002
no MacBinary III signature - checking for MacBinary I or IIDIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: probing level 1 interface 1 CAppleSingleEncoding
CBSDBackingStore::openDataFork: about to open /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
opening /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg openDataFork 1904
CBSDBackingStore::OpenLockFriendly: mapping flags 0x00000002 -> 0x00000026 (locks are MANDATORY)
(RW lock acquired)
00000000: 7263 6e65 6173 6463 0000 0002 0000 0010 | rcneasdc........ |
00000010: 0000 0005 8000 0001 0000 0100 0000 005b | ...............[ |
00000020: 0000 00a0 548a .... .... .... .... .... | ....T........... |
closing 3 /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg closeDataFork 1984
CAppleSingleEncoding::isAppleSingleFile loadAppleSingleHeader failed with error 22
DIFileEncodingInstantiatorProbe: probing level 1 interface 2 CEncryptedEncoding
CBSDBackingStore::openDataFork: about to open /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
opening /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg openDataFork 1904
CBSDBackingStore::OpenLockFriendly: mapping flags 0x00000002 -> 0x00000026 (locks are MANDATORY)
(RW lock acquired)
CEncryptedEncoding::copyHeaderInformation: inBackingStore->openDataFork returned 0
CEncryptedEncoding::copyHeaderInformation: inBackingStore->getDataForkLength (stub header) returned 0
CEncryptedEncoding::copyHeaderInformation: backingStore data fork length is 0x0000000278100000 (10604249088)
CEncryptedEncoding::copyHeaderInformation: reading V1 header from offset 0x00000002780FFB04 (10604247812)
CEncryptedEncoding::copyHeaderInformation: inBackingStore->readDataFork (stub header) returned 0
CEncryptedEncoding::copyHeaderInformation: not recognized as v1 header
CEncryptedEncoding::copyHeaderInformation: reading V2 header from offset 0x0000000000000000 (0)
CEncryptedEncoding::copyHeaderInformation: inBackingStore->readDataFork (stub header) returned 0
CEncryptedEncoding::copyHeaderInformation: reading auth-entry count from offset 0x0000000000000048 (72)
CEncryptedEncoding::copyHeaderInformation: inBackingStore->readDataFork (auth entry count) returned 0
CEncryptedEncoding::copyHeaderInformation: reading auth table from offset 0x0000000000000048 (72)
CEncryptedEncoding::copyHeaderInformation: inBackingStore->readDataFork (auth entry count) returned 0
closing 3 /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg closeDataFork 1984
max-key-count: 1
blocksize: 4096
uuid: 548A2877-86C1-4F17-877B-CF66BEEA6066
version: 2
passphrase-count: 1
private-key-count: 0
CBSDBackingStore::openDataFork: about to open /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
opening /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg openDataFork 1904
CBSDBackingStore::OpenLockFriendly: mapping flags 0x00000002 -> 0x00000026 (locks are MANDATORY)
(RW lock acquired)
closing 3 /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg closeDataFork 1984
CBSDBackingStore::openDataFork: about to open /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg
opening /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg openDataFork 1904
CBSDBackingStore::OpenLockFriendly: mapping flags 0x00000002 -> 0x00000026 (locks are MANDATORY)
(RW lock acquired)
closing 3 /Volumes/kevin/busted.dmg closeDataFork 1984
diskimages-helper: DiskImages secure mode enabled
CEncryptedEncoding:unclockCANTHROW: trying to unlock with normal keychain
UNLOCK: cannot find passphrase in keychain search list.
UNLOCK: SessionGetInfo returned 0
UNLOCK: sessionHasGraphicAccess
UNLOCK: sessionHasTTY
UNLOCK: sessionWasInitialized
UNLOCK: using TTY to prompt for passphrase
Enter password to access "busted.dmg":
unlockCoreFromTTY: passphrase is wrong
DIFileEncodingNewWithBackingStore: returning 0x00000050
DIResolveURLToBackingStore: level 1 encoding match failed. 80.
DIResolveURLToDiskImage: resolving backing store/file encoding failed. 80.
status proc called: attach
error code: 80
status proc called: cleanup
2008-05-12 18:11:41.081 diskimages-helper[1747:1603] DIHelperAttach performOperation: returning 80
2008-05-12 18:11:41.082 diskimages-helper[1747:1603] -decrementBackgroundThreadCount: _backgroundThreadCount is now 0.
2008-05-12 18:11:41.082 diskimages-helper[1747:10b] DIHelper reportresults: reporting {
payload = {
"result-code" = 80;
2008-05-12 18:11:41.083 hdiutil[1745:1c03] reportResultsToFramework: proxy has finished operation
2008-05-12 18:11:41.084 hdiutil[1745:1c03] reportResultsToFramework: results are: {
payload = {
"result-code" = 80;
2008-05-12 18:11:41.084 hdiutil[1745:1c03] reportResultsToFramework: _threadResultsError is 80
2008-05-12 18:11:41.085 hdiutil[1745:1c03] reportResultsToFramework: disconnecting from helper.
2008-05-12 18:11:41.186 hdiutil[1745:1c03] disconnectFromHelper: removing observers
2008-05-12 18:11:41.187 hdiutil[1745:1c03] disconnectFromHelper: terminating proxy
2008-05-12 18:11:41.189 diskimages-helper[1747:10b] DIHelper: terminateHelper: entry.
2008-05-12 18:11:41.190 hdiutil[1745:1c03] disconnectFromHelper: terminated proxy
2008-05-12 18:11:41.290 diskimages-helper[1747:10b] -DIHelperAgentMaster terminateUIAgentConnection.
DIHLDiskImageAttach() returned 80
2008-05-12 18:11:41.293 diskimages-helper[1747:10b] DIHelper dealloc.
2008-05-12 18:11:41.294 diskimages-helper[1747:10b] -DIHelperAgentMaster terminateUIAgentConnection.
hdiutil: attach failed - Authentication error
kevin:~ kevin$

Can't paste password for new encrypted disk image.

Howdy all!
I have been trying to create an encrypted disk image with the Disk Utility, but I'm having trouble with putting in the password.
Using the password assistant, it only fills one of the two password fields, and I cannot copy/paste the password to the other field. If I generate a password elsewhere I cannot paste it into either box as well.
If I switch applications from Disk Utility and come back to the password dialog the menubar says I am still in whatever application I was last (in this case it says Firefox at the very left) and the Edit menu is completely grayed out.
Any idea how to get a non-typeable password into this dialog?
Thanks for your help.
Mike

You can paste it in if you use hdiutil to create or mount the disk image (In Terminal.app). That's the
only way to go if you use a "bullet proof monster" password like I do.
To create an encrypted, sparse disk image, open a Terminal window and cd to the directory in which
you want to create the image file. For example:
cd ~/Desktop
Then type the command:
hdiutil create -size thesize -encryption -type SPARSE -fs HFS+ thename
live command example:
hdiutil create -size 1g -encryption -type SPARSE -fs HFS+ myimage
(this will create a 1gigabyte sparse image with the hfs format with the name "myimage.sparseimage"
#note: I love sparseimages and sparsebundles because they mount so quickly#
Above, the size is the maximum size that the volume will ever be able to contain, for example,
660m for 660 megabytes or 1g for one gigabyte. Note that if you want the image file to remain
below a certain size (such as the size of a CD) you must allow for approximately 10% overhead.
Also above, thename is the name of the image file you want to create, not the volume name.
The volume name will be "untitled". Rename as you would any other mounted volume (after it is
mounted).
You will be asked for a password or phase to secure your file. In terminal you may copy and paste
or use command + V keyboard combo. It will mount normally after that.
I don't use the "Remember password (add to Keychain)" function because my passphrase will be
visible in the Keychain to anyone with physical access to your computer.
Instead I use Terminal to open my new image.
Open terminal.app, simply type:
hdiutil attach /path/to/imagefile
example:
hdiutil attach /Users/kj/Desktop/myimage.sparseimage
(remember, you can drag and drop the file path into the terminal from Finder)
Terminal will ask for your password, simply cut and paste from your favorite password program
(such as "1Password").
There is a manual page available; type man hdiutil in the Terminal.
Enjoy,
Kj

How to backup a mounted & encrypted disk image?

I have read all the posts about creating a sparse bundles. I guess this allows you to backup the disk image as long as it is not mounted? Will it still backup if it is mounted? Will it be usable when I restore it?
What if all I want to do is just backup the mounted disk and not the image? I did some tests and it seems to work. When I look at the backup on a different machine by taking over the disk, I see the volume as a possible restore and I see the files. Am I missing something? I thought I had read that this does not work? I do realize that the backup is not very secure since I can now restore files on an image I had intended to maintain secure. It would be nice if time machine allowed me to backup in an encrypted format the required some password for the restore. Create sparse bundle on that backup disk and backup to that mounted image?
Steven

Well since it is encrypted, no matter how you delete it, it should remain secure. That is an advantage of an encrypted file
However, if you want to over write the contents of the file, you can just drag it to the trash and select secure empty trash.
NOTE: if you have a lot of other deleted files in the trash, it is going to take longer to do the secure empty trash as those other files are also going to be securely erased. I've made the mistake of doing the secure empty trash with several hundred files in the trash, some of which were rather large files.

Removing an encrypted disk image

A while ago, I created a 7gb encrypted read/write disk image and put some files in it. Now, recently, I removed the files in the encrypted disk image and copied them back into the regular HD. I erased the mounted disk image and now says it's back to 7gb.
How do I remove the disk image? It's still there in my documents folder. How do I melt it back into the HD space? I can remove it from the side bar on the disk utility page but it's still on my HD and I can still mount it to the finder. I enter my password and it mounts.
I want to get rid of that disk partition as I don't use it anymore. What do I do? Is it there forever and am I stuck with it?
Thanks in advance for anybody that can help me with this.

Niel,
You know I actually tried that before but the trash was hanging and hanging. I have it set to empty securely and I know it takes longer for secure empty but it was really long.
I'll try it again but is that normal? Does the encryption have anything to do with it?
Thanks for the help, hope this time it works.

Creating a LARGE Encrypted Disk Image

Hello,
I have to encrypt a LARGE external Hard Drive for my work (a 1 Terabyte external drive, which comes to about 930 gigs to encrypt).
I have to do one of the regular encrypted disk images, not one of those expandable ones.
I know that encrypted disk images take a long time to create, as I’ve created smaller ones in the past and they take hours.
Does anyone know how long it will take to create an encrypted disk image of this size?
AND, since it will probably take quite a while, I was wondering if it is BAD for my MacBook Pro or the external drive itself to write information for this long of a period. I just want to make sure I don’t damage anything.
Thanks for any help.

I did a 400 GB one and it must have taken an hour to get the password prompt, a couple more for the creation, and another for formatting and mounting.
If you have a bed and sleep daily, as I suspect you do, start an hour before bed, enter the password and it should be done by morning.
You don't need a 900 GB image unless you have one 900 GB file which I doubt. Make one smaller one say 300, then copy it twice. The password will be the same in all 3 copies.
If you look at activity monitor not much is going on during all this so don't think the house will burn down (or your pants - see other question posted today).

Unable to create an encrypted disk image in Lion

disk utility gives the error Unable to create "Volume.dmg." (error - 60008) when creating an encrypted disk image. I am using the following steps:
    1.    Open disk utility
    2.    Select the disk (internal or external) to create the image on
    3.    Select File>New>Blank Disk Image…
    4.    Save As: 'Volume'
    5.    Name: Volume
    6.    Size: 50GB
    7.    Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    8.    Encryption: 128-bit AES encryption
    9.    Image Format: read/write disk image
    10.    Click the Create button
    11.    Password dialog appears
    12.    When I enter a password the dialog closes after entering only a few characters i.e. before I've finished typing, and the following error message displays:
Unable to create "Volume.dmg." (error - 60008)
I have previously, successfully, created encrypted disk images in Snow Leopard, and I don't know why I can't in Lion
Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for this Thomas.
I've tried naming the image differently, but still received the error, I did however try different permutations for the password.
The error seems to happen if I use a purely numerical password string and occurs on input of the 10th numerical character, if I start with numerical character but use an alpha before the 9th number I can continue and create a password, and I can create a password if I start with an alpha and switch to numerals after the first alpha character, purely alphabetical passwords are fine too.
It seems that Lion doesn't like purely numerical passwords greater than 9 characters, whereas Snow Leopard wasn't so fussy. Seems it's a bit of a bug.
Thanks for your help

Unable to create an encrypted disk image with Disk Utility

Hi:
With our upgrade to Lion a few weeks ago, we're now unable to create an encrypted disk image of any type using Disk Utility any more. This problem occurs on 3 different machines, and is reproducible whether one is using an internal HD or an external FW HD. We can successfully create nonencrypted disk images.
This is a duplicate post with all the details here: https://discussions.apple.com/message/18469359#18469359
We haven't had any luck with a solution trying various permissions fixes as helpfully suggested by other readers in response to the error message # (-60008 error), so I'm hoping that someone else has run across a solution from the encrypted disk image perspective and that this tag line will generate some help.
Thank you!

Save As: 01 (on Desktop)
Name: 01
Size: 100 MB
Format: Mac OS Encrypted (Journaled)
Encryption: 256-bit AES
Partitions: Single partition- Apple Partition Map
Image Format: read/write disk image
At the password window that pops up I enter: 1234567890
This says password strength is "Weak"
All works fine
Then I repeated this using:
Save As: 02 (on Desktop)
Name: 02
Size: 100 MB
Format: Mac OS Encypted (Journaled)
Encryption: 256-bit AES
Partitions: Single partition- Apple Partition Map
Image Format: read/write disk image
At the password window that pops up I enter: 1234567890 and when I start to enter the next "1" I get the "Unable to create "02.dmg." (error -60008)
OS 10.7.4
Disk Utility Version 12.1.1 (353)

Encrypted disk image no longer demands password

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