FreeOTFE
Developer(s) | Sarah Dean |
---|---|
Stable release | 5.21
/ 7 February 2010 |
Written in | Delphi (GUI) |
Operating system | Microsoft Windows and Windows Mobile |
Available in | Croatian, Czech, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish |
Type | Disk encryption software |
License | Free and open-source software that requires attribution[1] |
Website | FreeOTFE at the Wayback Machine (archived May 31, 2013) |
FreeOTFE is a discontinued open source computer program for on-the-fly disk encryption (OTFE). On Microsoft Windows, and Windows Mobile (using FreeOTFE4PDA), it can create a virtual drive within a file or partition, to which anything written is automatically encrypted before being stored on a computer's hard or USB drive. It is similar in function to other disk encryption programs including TrueCrypt and Microsoft's BitLocker.[2]
The author, Sarah Dean, went absent as of 2011. The FreeOTFE website is unreachable as of June 2013 and the domain name is now registered by a
Overview
FreeOTFE was initially released by Sarah Dean in 2004, and was the first open source code disk encryption system that provided a modular architecture allowing 3rd parties to implement additional algorithms if needed. Older FreeOTFE licensing required that any modification to the program be placed in the
This software is compatible with Linux encrypted volumes (e.g.
Optional
FreeOTFE also allows any number of "hidden volumes" to be created, giving plausible deniability and deniable encryption, and also has the option of encrypting full partitions or disks (but not the system partition).[9]
Portable use
FreeOTFE can be used in "portable" (or "traveller") mode, which allows it to be kept on a USB drive or other portable media, together with its encrypted data, and carried around. This allows it to be used under Microsoft Windows without installation of the complete program to "mount" and access the encrypted data through a virtual disk.
The use of this mode requires installing
Driverless operation
Packaged with FreeOTFE is another program called "FreeOTFE Explorer",[12] which provides a driverless system that allows encrypted disks to be used without administrator rights.
This allows FreeOTFE encrypted data to be used on (for example) public computers found in libraries or computer kiosks (interactive kiosks), where administrator rights are unavailable.
Unlike FreeOTFE, FreeOTFE Explorer does not provide on-the-fly encryption through a virtual drive.
Algorithms implemented
Due to its architecture, FreeOTFE provides great flexibility to the user with its encryption options.
Ciphers
FreeOTFE implements several ciphers, including:
It includes all National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) finalists, and all ciphers can be used with multiple different keylengths.
Cipher modes
FreeOTFE originally offered encryption using
Hashes
As with its cipher options, FreeOTFE offers many different hash algorithms:
- MD2
- MD4
- MD5
- RIPEMD-128
- RIPEMD-160
- RIPEMD-224
- RIPEMD-320
- SHA-1
- SHA-224
- SHA-256
- SHA-384
- SHA-512
- Tiger
- Whirlpool
See also
- Disk encryption
- Disk encryption software
- On-the-fly encryption
- Comparison of disk encryption software
References
- ^ FreeOTFE license
- ISBN 0-596-52762-4, page 5.
- ^ LibreCrypt on GitHub
- ^ FreeOTFE version history
- ISBN 1-59858-671-8, page 253.
- ISBN 0-07-160127-9, page 103.
- ISBN 0-596-00963-1, page 523.
- ^ Security Token/Smartcard Support
- ^ Partition/Entire Disk Based Volumes
- ^ What is Windows 7 Test Mode
- ^ Additional Information for Windows Vista x64 and Windows 7 x64 Users
- ^ a b FreeOTFE v. FreeOTFE Explorer Comparison
External links
- FreeOTFE at the Wayback Machine (archived May 31, 2013)
- FreeOTFE on SourceForge