Full disk encryption for the Mac ?

I desperately require a security measure against data compromise in the event of a physical theft of one of my Macs.
Is there some full disk encryption solution, similar to the TrueCrypt solution for Windows, that can work with a Mac? (TrueCrypt works on Mac but not its feature of full disk encryption)
Any other ideas on reinforcing security in such physical theft incidents?
Thanks!

Visited http://www.macintouch.com/
PGP Corporation is now shipping PGP Desktop 9.9 for Mac OS X, a major update of the encryption software. Highlights of this release include full support for pre-boot authentication, full support for external drives (including the sharing of Whole Disk Encrypted thumb drives between Mac and Windows clients), use of the FIPS 140-2 validated PGP SDK for cryptographic operations,
http://www.pgp.com/

Similar Messages

Need 256 Bit AES Full Disk Encryption for a Mac. The other discussions regarding this issue are very old. Does anyone have any current advice regarding encryption software?

Does anyone have any advice regarding 256 bit full disk encryption software for Macs? The other discussions on the topic are years old, so I would like some current input. Thanks for your help in advance.

Depending on your Mac, you might not want to upgrade to OS X 10.7 or 10.8 as it will not run the PowerPC based software your currently using costing a bundle to replace it all, also they will slow down your machine if it's not a more recent issue. You don't want to upgrade OS X without AppleCare defending your possibly bricked logicboard that's for sure.
Filevault encrypts the boot drive, however in doing so makes it near impossible to fix if you have a software issue and need to recover files directly or by using specialty software. Also it robs the machine of performance even more than the Lions do. So you will really need a SSD to work best with 10.7/10.8 and Filevault, then it has to be freshly installed. Filevault needs 50% free space on the boot drive, then it's going to write to the slower 50% half of the hard drive where performance is terrible compared to the first 50%.
Also Filevault is cracked under certain conditions, and if someone gets their hands on the machine (like the law) and knows what they are doing.
If you take your Filevaulted machine to Apple to fix, they are going to require the password to fix the machine obviously.
Software based encryption is vulnerable, you might want to instead place your sensitive data on external self-encrypting hardware that doesn't rely upon software or computer hacks/bypasses (ike freezing the RAM) to get to it.
http://www.datalocker.com/products/datalocker-dl3.html
Iron Keys for portable USB self encryption, both work with any computer, so your not locked into one platform.
With the senstive data off the computer and on a external device, there is the option of removing, hiding and securing the device. If used with a computer that's never connected to the Internet, it's safe from snoopers, except from a survelliance van parked outside your door.

Anyone using SecureDoc Full-Disk Encryption for Mac from WinMagic?

Currently I am using Mac OS X v10.5 on a MBP and want to upgrade to Snow Leopard. I use PGP full disk encryption.
I do not want to wait anymore for PGP v10 before I can upgrade to Snow Leopard. In my search for a replacement for PGP I found SecureDoc Full-Disk Encryption for Mac from WinMagic.
https://www.winmagic.com/products/full-disk-encryption-for-mac
They claim to be Snow Leopard compatible
https://www.winmagic.com/kw/download.php?url=/datasheets/securedocmac_brochure20090925a.pdf
I have two questions:
1) Does anyone have experience with SecureDoc Full-Disk Encryption for Mac from WinMagic?
2) Where can I buy one? PGP has a store where I ordered my copy of the software. But I can't find a store anywhere for SecureDoc. With some trouble I found a reseller in the Netherlands, but they don't reply to any questions.

I am currently testing a trial license from Checkpoint Full Disk Encryption.
http://www.checkpoint.com/products/datasecurity/pc/index.html
The company where I work is a Checkpoint reseller, and normally only has dealings with other companies, not end users. But we arranged a trial license and I can buy a single user license Checkpoint Full Disk Encryption if the test proves Checkpoint Full Disk Encryption is a good solution.
I created a bootable usb disk with Snow Lepoard on it. But I was unable to install FDE on it. After reboot I only get a blank screen, that's it. Probably it isn't supported to boot from a full disk encrypted removable drive, I can understand that.
I can't create a virtual Snow Leopard machine (legal reasons) to test it on. And all FDE solutions I found aren't compatible with Mac Server, which is a shame because you can virtualize Mac Server legally.
So now I am planning to change the hard-disk of my MBP this evening with another hard-disk to test Checkpoint FDE there. I don't want to upgrade my current Leopard installation to Snow Leopard only to discover it doesn't work as expected. I could of-course use my current installation and when it doesn't work rollback to a timemachine backup, but before that I have to decrypt my disk and uninstall PGP witch will take 1-2 days, and encrypt again when the test is over. Not pratical.
I will let you know how the test with Checkpoint Full Disk Encryption went!

X220 SSD Drive w/Full Disk Encryption (FDE), Intel 320 or others

Does anyone have experience or recommendations regarding installing an SSD with Full Disk Encryption for the X220?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

I have a 300GB Intel 320 which I installed it myself (cloned the factory install using Acronis). No mSATA drive.
Hope this helps!
I don't work for Lenovo. I'm a crazy volunteer!

Winmagic Securedoc and New Macbook Pro for Full Disk Encryption (FDE)

Hi, I wonder if anyone had any experience with this. I've installed a seagate Momentus FDE drive (...421 series) on my new macbook pro and tried installing Winmagic securedoc to manage full disk encryption. It seems that despite all their recommendations re: hibernatemode and lidwake and sleep vs hibernation, the MBP crashes when I close the lid and then awaken it (by opening and pressing the power button). It cannot be awakened via an external keyboard either. Note that both hibernate and sleep work fine without securedoc. As securedoc appears to be the only viable FDE solution, I'd really like to get it working. Has anyone had any luck getting it to work with the new MBPs?

PGP is another alternative as I have used it for the past few years on all of my Macbook Pros. I also own SecureDoc but have not installed it on the new Macbook yet.
I do know that PGP disables hibernate during the install as it can cause problems.

I cannot install mac os x snow leopard as i dont have the previous installation disk os x 10.5.8 and I cant remember the password for the mac. How can I install snow leopard.

Hi I have just received Mac OS X Snow leopard but when I tried to install it i couldn't as I have forgotten the password for the mac and I can't find the disk for OS X 10.5.8 its running on. Is there any way to install the new software without both of these?

you can reset your password. restart, and hold down Command-s before the apple logo appears (when the screen is white). you will see scrolling scripts until you see something like "root:" then type /sbin/mount -uw / to mount the disk. after that, type sudo passwd admin or whatever your admin password is. type in the new password two times. it doesn't show what you typed when you type the password so make sure you are pressing the right keys. after you done that, type exit to start up the computer. now you will be able to login with the new password.

Leopard full disk encryption

Currently I own a Macbook Pro and an iMac, both running Leopard. In particular for my MacBook Pro, I am desperately looking for a full disk encryption product. I know there is FileVault. But it will only encrypt the home directory. All other products will not encrypt the boot partition, so its pretty pointless for a laptop. Another problem is that Time Machine will not work well on FileVault directories.
I looked everywhere, but no luck so far. Given the popularity of Mac laptops, its kind of odd that there is not more around. Soon I won't be able to use my Macbook Pro on the road anymore as our corporate policy is going to require full disk encryption of all laptops soon

I think that you're out of luck at the moment, heres an article that might give some hope for the future.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9869812-7.html

Power failure during full disk encryption

I enabled the full disk encryption and during the encryption process I had a power failure. Now my mac boots up, asks me for my login and password and then hangs in the apple logo and runs the processor and fans at full power.
I am assuming that it may be finishing the encryption but I have left it on for several hours and it just stays in the same screen. I am running a 2008 Macbook Pro with a 2.8 dual core processor, 6MB ram and 750GB HD.
Does anyone know if it will eventually come back to life or should I be looking into rebuilding the drive?
Thank you,
-Matt

For MisterFlo and others interested I'll elaborate a bit more, it was late when I posted..
The Equium A300 was a Vista SP1 WinRE setup which requires the latest huge WAIK download you've mentioned (which supports Vista SP1 and Server 2008) plus also a Vista SP1 DVD or source files to create the ERD.
For the original Vista RE setups you will need the older WAIK (which is a paltry 800Mb) and likely the previous 2007 Optimization Park for the pre SP1 ERD plus of course a Vista source.
One final tip - don't boot off the HDD to try the repair until all the files are substituted and the permissions for the files you've replaced are fixed and the BCD else it's almost certain you'll get a 0xc000000f error - "the boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible"

Cisco Agent Desktop / Supervisor Desktop Issue with Full Disk Encryption

Has anyone had any issues related to running Cisco Agent Desktop or Cisco Supervisor Desktop on a machine running full disk encryption? Our desktop team installed full disk encryption software from Check Point, and it seams to be causing some issues with call monitoring, screen pops via workflow and connectivity to the UCCX server. It's not effecting every machine (that we know of), but the fix for us right now is to provide a desktop without the encryption software. I'm just wondering if this is related to us, or if there is any supporting documentation out there?
Any help is apprecicated.

CAD for IPCCX v4 does not support windows 7. See compatibility matrix:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cust_contact/contact_center/crs/express_compatibility/matrix/crscomtx.pdf
In my experience if you already have CAD installed and you upgrade the OS (without a fresh rebuild) CAD will work - but it is NOT supported. You should test this though.
You will not be able to install the older version of CAD on windows 7, the installer will give you errors.
Brian
please rate helpful posts

What is the best 'cleaning system' for the Mac?

What do you recommend as the best 'cleaning system' for the Mac!

How to maintain a Mac
Make two or more backups of all your files
One backup is not enough to be safe. A copy of a backup doesn't count as another backup; all backups must be made directly from the original data.
Keep at least one backup off site at all times in case of disaster. Backing up to a cloud-data service is one way to accomplish this, but don't rely exclusively on such backups.
In fact, don’t rely exclusively on any single backup method, such as Time Machine.
If you get an indication that a backup has failed, don't ignore it.
Keep your software up to date
In the App Store or Software Update preference pane (depending on the OS version), you can configure automatic notifications of updates to OS X and other Mac App Store products. Some third-party applications from other sources have a similar feature, if you don’t mind letting them phone home. Otherwise you have to check yourself on a regular basis.
Keeping up to date is especially important for complex software that modifies the operating system, such as device drivers. Don't install such modifications unless they're absolutely necessary. Remove them when they are no longer needed. Before installing any Apple update, you must check that all system modifications that you use are compatible. Incompatibility with third-party software is by far the most common cause of difficulties with system updates.
Don't install crapware
...such as “themes,” "haxies," “add-ons,” “toolbars,” “enhancers," “optimizers,” “accelerators,” "boosters," “extenders,” “cleaners,” "doctors," "tune-ups," “defragmenters,” “firewalls,” "barriers," “guardians,” “defenders,” “protectors,” most “plugins,” commercial "virus scanners,” "disk tools," or "utilities." With very few exceptions, such stuff is useless or worse than useless. Above all, avoid any software that purports to change the look and feel of the user interface.
It's not much of an exaggeration to say that the whole "utility" software industry for the Mac is a fraud on consumers. The most extreme examples are the "CleanMyMac," "TuneUpMyMac," and “MacKeeper” scams, but there are many others.
As a rule, you should avoid software that changes the way other software works. Plugins for Photoshop and similar programs are an obvious exception to this rule. Safari extensions, and perhaps the equivalent for other web browsers, are a partial exception. Most are safe, and they're easy to get rid of if they don't work. Some may cause the browser to crash or otherwise malfunction. Some are malicious. Use with caution, and install only well-known extensions from relatively trustworthy sources, such as the Safari Extensions Gallery.
Only install software that is useful to you, not (as you imagine) to the computer. For example, a word processor is useful for writing. A video editor is useful for making movies. A game is useful for fun. But a "cache cleaner" isn't useful for anything. You didn't buy a computer so you could clean caches.
Never install any third-party software unless you know how to uninstall it. Otherwise you may create problems that are very hard to solve. Do not rely on "utilities" such as "AppCleaner" and the like that purport to remove software.
Don't install bad, conflicting, or unnecessary fonts
Whenever you install new fonts, use the validation feature of the built-in Font Book application to make sure the fonts aren't defective and don't conflict with each other or with others that you already have. See the built-in help and this support article for instructions.
Deactivate or remove fonts that you don't really need to speed up application launching.
Avoid malware
"Malware" is malicious software that circulates on the Internet. This kind of attack on OS X was once so rare that it was hardly a concern, but it's now increasingly common and dangerous.
There is some built-in protection against malware, but you can’t rely on it—the attackers are always at least one day ahead of the defense. You can’t rely on third-party "anti-virus" products for protection either. What you can rely on is common-sense awareness—not paranoia, which only makes you more vulnerable.
Never install software from an untrustworthy or unknown source. If in doubt, do some research. Any website that prompts you to install a “codec” or “plugin” that comes from the same site, or an unknown site, is untrustworthy. Software with a corporate brand, such as Adobe Flash Player, must come directly from the developer's website. No intermediary is acceptable, and don’t trust links unless you know how to parse them. Any file that is automatically downloaded from the web, without your having requested it, should go straight into the Trash. A web page that tells you that your computer has a “virus,” or that anything else is wrong with it, is a scam.
In OS X 10.7.5 or later, downloaded applications and Installer packages that have not been digitally signed by a developer registered with Apple are blocked from loading by default. The block can be overridden, but think carefully before you do so.
Because of recurring security issues in Java, it’s best to disable it in your web browsers, if it’s installed. Few websites have Java content nowadays, so you won’t be missing much. This action is mandatory if you’re running any version of OS X older than 10.6.8 with the latest Java update. Note: Java has nothing to do with JavaScript, despite the similar names. Don't install Java unless you're sure you need it. Most people don't.
Don't fill up your disk or SSD
A common mistake is adding more and more large files to your home folder until you start to get warnings that you're out of space, which may be followed in short order by a startup failure. This is more prone to happen on the newer Macs that come with an internal SSD instead of the traditional hard drive. The drive can be very nearly full before you become aware of the problem.
While it's not true that you should or must keep any particular percentage of space free, you should monitor your storage use and make sure you're not in immediate danger of using it up. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of free space on the startup volume for normal operation.
If storage space is running low, use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper to explore the volume and find out what's taking up the most space. Move seldom-used large files to secondary storage.
Relax, don’t do it
Besides the above, no routine maintenance is necessary or beneficial for the vast majority of users; specifically not “cleaning caches,” “zapping the PRAM,” "resetting the SMC," “rebuilding the directory,” "defragmenting the drive," “running periodic scripts,” “dumping logs,” "deleting temp files," “scanning for viruses,” "purging memory," "checking for bad blocks," "testing the hardware," or “repairing permissions.” Such measures are either completely pointless or are useful only for solving problems, not for prevention.
To use a Mac effectively, you have to free yourself from the Windows mindset that every computer needs regular downtime for maintenance such as "defragging" and "registry cleaning." Those concepts do not apply to the Mac platform.
A well-designed computing device is not something you should have to think about much. It should be an almost transparent medium through which you communicate, work, and play. If you want a machine that needs a lot of attention just to keep going, use a PC, or collect antique cars.
The very height of futility is running an expensive third-party application called “Disk Warrior” when nothing is wrong, or even when something is wrong and you have backups, which you must have. Disk Warrior is a data-salvage tool, not a maintenance tool, and you will never need it if your backups are adequate. Don’t waste money on it or anything like it.

What is the cause for the mac to become slow

what is the cause for the mac to become slow?

Things You Can Do To Resolve Slow Downs
If your computer seems to be running slower here are some things you can do:
Start with a visit to: OS X Maintenance - MacAttorney.
Boot into Safe Mode then repair your hard drive and permissions:
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions Pre-Lion/Mountain Lion
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
Repair the Hard Drive - Lion/Mountain Lion
Boot from your Lion Recovery HD. When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Restart your computer normally and see if this has helped any. Next do some maintenance:
Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
For situations Disk Utility cannot handle the best third-party utility is Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.x is now Intel Mac compatible.
OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep. Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts was significantly reduced since Tiger. These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard or Lion and should not be installed.
OS X automatically defragments files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems. For more about malware see Macintosh Virus Guide.
I would also recommend downloading a utility such as TinkerTool System, OnyX 2.4.3, or Cocktail 5.1.1 that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old log files and archives, clearing caches, etc.
For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the command line. Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow Leopard. There is no confirmation that this version also works with Lion.
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand.
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Carbon Copy Cloner
2. Data Backup
3. Deja Vu
4. SuperDuper!
5. SyncTwoFolders
6. Synk Pro
7. Synk Standard
8. Tri-Backup
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.
Additional suggestions will be found in Mac maintenance Quick Assist.
Referenced software can be found at CNet Downloads or MacUpdate.
Additional Hints
Be sure you have an adequate amount of RAM installed for the number of applications you run concurrently. Be sure you leave a minimum of 10% of the hard drive's capacity as free space.
Add more RAM. If your computer has less than 2 GBs of RAM and you are using OS X Leopard or later, then you can do with more RAM. Snow Leopard and Lion work much better with 4 GBs of RAM than their system minimums. The more concurrent applications you tend to use the more RAM you should have.
Always maintain at least 15 GBs or 10% of your hard drive's capacity as free space, whichever is greater. OS X is frequently accessing your hard drive, so providing adequate free space will keep things from slowing down.
Check for applications that may be hogging the CPU:
Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder. Select All Processes from the Processes dropdown menu. Click twice on the CPU% column header to display in descending order. If you find a process using a large amount of CPU time, then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar. Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process. See if that helps. Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.
Often this problem occurs because of a corrupted cache or preferences file or an attempt to write to a corrupted log file.

The Best Virus Program For The Mac?

Hi... I currently use Virus Barrier X6 w/ Net Barrier... What is the best Virus/Network Software for the Mac platform? Any Recommendations?
So far I've had no problems and Virus Barrier did detect one virus which came in the form of a junk email attachment. I was able to "eradicate it" and have had no other problems since... Is VirusBarrier a good application for protecting against malware, viruses, etc...? If not can someone recommend? And what about virus protection for the iPad? (I just ordered one)

OK... Than answer me this... Why is it only Windows which can be hit by a virus.
There are several factors that make Windows more vulnerable. (Some may have been changed in the latest Windows.)
Windows users normally run with privileges enabled because they are needed for common operations. OSX users can run in non-administrator accounts for normal use.
Some Windows applications, such as Internet Explorer, can have full access to system files, so can modify the system or install software without the user's knowledge. These applications can blindly follow instructions from web pages or mail messages. OSX's Safari has a limited set of file types considered "Safe", and won't open any others that may be downloaded. The worst that a "Safe" file can do is play a media file, or open a disk image to show the files contained, and instructions on installing. The user would have to start the installation, and enter an administrator name and password, to modify the system. You will be warned the first time you try to open a downloaded file that is an application, or wants to start an application.
Window's mail applications are happy to take commands from other applications to send files to other computers. OSX Mail will ask for permission when a new application tries to send mail.
To try and improve security, Windows has added many warnings for activities that could be suspicious, but they can occur so often that users often just click OK without checking.
Windows has the capability of automatically running application from a disc when it is inserted. This feature was used on CDs by music publishers to install new drivers to prevent copying, but can also install a virus. Just plugging in an infected USB memory stick can automatically infect your computer. Thee have been cases legitimate distributing of discs or memory sticks that were infected. IBM unknowingly distributed some recently at a security conference. There were infected USB sticks left in a parking lot of a government facility. Somebody who found one, plugged it into his computer to try and identify the person who may have lost it. It immediately installed a virus on the computer, which was on a secure, protected, network At one time, Mac OS had this "feature" but it was removed long before OSX, because it made it so easy to infect a computer. (There were some pre-OSX Mc viruses.)
Why are Macs and OS X invulnerable to viruses?
They are not invulnerable, but not as easy to infect. Occasionally security holes are found, but Apple provides security updates reasonably quickly.
I've never heard Apple claim there are no viruses out there for OS X and I don't think they would do so...
I think they did claim that in some TV ads. They didn't claim that there would never be any, though.
I'm not trying to start an argument... Rather trying to find out about some software. All I've received (aside from one) is there apparently are no viruses for OS X. Whatever...
Maybe they are right.
I've been in the IT Field long enough to know anything is possible. And even disconnecting from a network still doesn't guarantee anything. I'm sure you've put data CDs in your Mac.
Yes, but unlike Windows, that can't install anything automatically.
Maybe the word "Best" wasn't the right choice... I was looking for more of a comparison and instead I get another smart @ss answer.
That doesn't mean the answer is wrong. There are currently no OSX viruses out there. The anti-virus companies are desperately looking for some; so far unsuccessfully. They may even be trying to create some. That doesn't stop them ffrom climing tht there are such viruses. They often list the pre-OSX ones.

Request To Blackberry: Full-Disk Encryption

The current encryption option for the SD card encrypts ONLY the data contents, and NOT the full structure of the filesystem.
As it stands right now pulling an encrypted SD card from the Z-10 and inserting it into a Windows machine divulges the entire filesystem structure with names and modification dates intact. The data itself is encrypted and the file size padded out to the next 4k size, which appears to be the block size of the encrpytion system.
While this prevents Windows from considering the card "unformatted" and thus randomly offering to destroy it with a single click (which it would otherwise do) the file names, mod times and sizes confer quite a bit of information to a hostile party who comes into possession of the device and its memory card.
Having the choice of that not being the case (as is true for full-disk encryption on FreeBSD and other systems such as TrueCrypt) would be nice, even though it does some with a greater risk of accidental destruction should you insert the card into some other device by accident.
Market Information? Come read The Market Ticker!

wtaylor72,
It appears that in the past few days you have not received a response to your
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Can host hacker break into guest that uses full disk encryption?

I know it is unlikely but let us say host has got owned, ie a hacker has managed to break into the host.
How would they go about breaking into a linux VM that uses full disk encryption?
They can't mess with the .vmdk without damaging it - it is encrypted by the guest.
They can't use vmrun because they do not know the guest passwords.
They can't attach to processes in the guest with debugging tools because they cannot see individual guest processes.
What can they do? And crucially, what can I do as a countermeasure?

What really matters is WHERE you do the encryption. If the encryption is too low, data in the guest appears unencrypted. If it is in the guest, then the keys live in the guest and since SGX is not around at the moment, keys are somewhere in guest memory even for a little bit of time.
So the real question is what are you trying to achieve?
If you are trying to meet encryption at rest requirements then it makes no difference where you encrypt as the data on the disk will be encrypted and without the key no one can decrypt it. Now if you have keys generated within a VM without using DRNGD or some other high quatlity randomness source, then your keys could be predictable and you need to guard against making it easy for a brute force attack.
If you need to encrypt data in motion?
Then you need to consider how the VM is protected itself, how an application interacts with data to determine during 'motion' if someone should not be accessing the data even though they are already supposedly allowed to do so. Keys are in memory, so therefore you need to guard memory access for those keys to only the application in question. This is the hard part, and requires you to think seriously about logging, key management, etc.
So really what are you trying to achieve?
Best regards,
Edward L. Haletky
VMware Communities User Moderator, VMware vExpert 2009-2015
Author of the books 'VMWare ESX and ESXi in the Enterprise: Planning Deployment Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2011 Pearson Education. 'VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing the Virtual Environment', Copyright 2009 Pearson Education.
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CheckPoint Endpoint full disk encryption

My previous employer mandated CheckPoint Endpoint full disk encryption on every machine accessing their intranet. Since I have not worked there for two years, their IT group refuses to support my MB air. I am trying to update my OS, but Endpoint will not allow this. I like the encryption, but if I had to choose, I would pick an updated OS. Does anyone know how to do this?

Back up all data to at least two different storage devices, if you haven't already done so. One backup is not enough to be safe. The backups can be made with Time Machine or with Disk Utility. Preferably both.
Erase and install OS X. This operation will destroy all data on the startup volume, so you had be better be sure of the backups. If you upgraded from an older version of OS X, you'll need the Apple ID and password that you used, so make a note of those before you begin.
When you restart, you'll be prompted to go through the initial setup process in Setup Assistant. That’s when you transfer the data from a backup.
Select only users and Computer & Network Settings in the Setup Assistant dialog—not Applications or Other files and folders. Don't transfer the Guest account, if it was enabled.
After that, check the App Store for updates and install the third-party software you need.
Before installing any software, ask yourself the question: "Am I sure I know how to uninstall this without having to wipe the volume again?" If the answer is "no," stop.
Never install any third-party software unless you know how to uninstall it.

Full disk encryption for the Mac ?

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