TrueCrypt replacement for windows 7/8

[sergeyn]

Hi,
As truecrypt is dead now, I wonder what is the closest alternative out there ? Free or not - doesn't matter as far as it can mount on-disk file as an encrypted volume ?

Thanks.

 

[pjg]

i would get 7

 

[Gerald Attrick]

First off, TrueCrypt ain't dead. The 7.1a version is as viable as it ever has been. The only question is how well will TC hold up in the future, without ongoing maintenance and enhancement.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the closest alternative is VeraCrypt. It's open source and free. When you check it out, you'll discover (happily, I suspect) it's a nearly identical twin brother (or sister, as the case may be) of TrueCrypt. I recently converted from TC to VC. While tedious and time-consuming, it was remarkably straightforward.

During the past week or so, VeraCrypt was updated, an eventuality not likely to occur with TrueCrypt at this stage of the game.

 

[randomizer]

Actually the closest alternative is CipherShed, because apart from one or two tiny commits it is currently TrueCrypt in all but name. The goal is to rewrite it from scratch though, and release under a nicer licence.

 

[Gerald Attrick]

Geez, I haven't even heard of CipherShed before. Guess I'll have to get out more often. Heheheh.

IAC, I could say the same things about VeraCrypt, correctly or otherwise. To me, the only noticeable differences are the app's icon and a much longer container "load" time apparently caused and necessitated by more ambitious attempts to block brute-force attacks. Other than that, they seem to be virtually identical. Not surprising, given VeraCrypt's genealogy. I have no way of knowing what's "under the skins," however.

 

[Gerald Attrick]

Actually the closest alternative is CipherShed, because apart from one or two tiny commits it is currently TrueCrypt in all but name. The goal is to rewrite it from scratch though, and release under a nicer licence.

Being the curious sort, I just did a little (literally) research on CipherShed. It left me quite puzzled. As far as I could tell, it's merely a development project at the moment... not "currently" an actual product that an end-user can download and put in play now. Moreover, from the sound of it, "the goal" you mentioned is nowhere in sight.

Interestingly, the one and only screen shot I could find shows more interface differences, albeit cosmetic, than VeraCrypt whose opening screen is virtually identical to TrueCrypt's. The icon is different.

So, what's the story here?

 

[randomizer]

Veracrypt appears to be under active developed and has moved on from its original sources. The veracrypt and truecrypt containers aren't even compatible. Ciphershed is basically still the original source, minus the branding. I think the screenshot is more of a mockup or perhaps some unpublished work. I don't see anything in the short commit history that indicates a GUI change.

Ciphershed should be usable, but you'd need to compile it yourself.

Interestingly, I recall reading last night that veracrypt developers are somehow involved with ciphershed as well, or at least one of the groups/committees planning its development.

 

[sergeyn]

Thanks for the answers guys.

I ended up keep using truecrypt 7.1a, there is actually a website devoted to how to download a legit 7.1a version here


There is also a fork - truecrypt.ch of truecrypt, but no releases yet.

VeraCrypt looks to be the closest one, maybe I consider it in the future if truecrypt.ch doesn't pick up.

 

[randomizer]

Ciphershed and truecrypt.ch are more or less the same thing (the latter is an older site), but they don't make that very clear. It's implied if you read some of the blog entries.

 

[Gerald Attrick]

Veracrypt appears to be under active developed and has moved on from its original sources. The veracrypt and truecrypt containers aren't even compatible. Ciphershed is basically still the original source, minus the branding. I think the screenshot is more of a mockup or perhaps some unpublished work. I don't see anything in the short commit history that indicates a GUI change.

Ciphershed should be usable, but you'd need to compile it yourself.

Thanks for clarifying things for us. Your comments about Vera are spot on. It is, indeed, under ongoing enhancement now. As I mentioned in an earlier message, a new version (1.0e, to be exact) was released within the past couple of weeks. While TrueCrypt isn't dead, it does look a little moribund to me. I don't like that kind of uncertainty, particularly in this venue. OTOH, VeraCrypt appears to be alive and kicking. That's why I made the transition, actually. And, yes, container content is not the same. That's what made my conversion tedious and time-consuming. It took a while to convert about six TB of container files.

The process is as simple as it is obvious. But, for the record, sergeyn, you simply create a VeraCrypt container and open it, a familiar process, I'm sure. Then, open the TrueCrypt container to be converted and copy its content to the new VC container. To make things less confusing, I gave the new containers a slightly different name. HTH.