File Encryption Software

VeraCrypt

VeraCrypt is a source-available freeware utility used for on-the-fly encryption. It can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file, encrypt a partition, or encrypt the entire storage device with pre-boot authentication. VeraCrypt is a fork of the discontinued TrueCrypt project. According to its developers, security improvements have been implemented and issues raised by the initial TrueCrypt code audit have been addressed.

GNU Privacy Guard

GnuPG is a GPL-licensed alternative to the PGP suite of cryptographic software. GnuPG is compliant with RFC 4880, which is the current IETF standards track specification of OpenPGP. Current versions of PGP (and Veridis’ Filecrypt) are interoperable with GnuPG and other OpenPGP-compliant systems. GnuPG is a part of the Free Software Foundation’s GNU software project, and has received major funding from the German government.

Cryptomator

Cryptomator makes it easy for you to upload files to the cloud in a virtual encrypted filesystem. The software was audited by cure53.

Picocrypt

Picocrypt is a small and simple encryption tool that provides modern encryption. Picocrypt uses the secure XChaCha20 cipher and the Argon2id key derivation function to provide a high level of security. It uses Go’s standard x/crypto modules for its encryption features.

We think the best usecase for this is if you need to encrypt some files, or archives.

Bitlocker

Bitlocker is the default full volume encryption that comes with Microsoft Windows. The main reason we recommend it is because of its use of TPM. Elcomsoft, a forensics company, has written about it: Understanding BitLocker TPM Protection.

Filevault

Filevault is the on-the-fly disk encryption that comes with MacOS. We recommend it because tightly intergrates with the Apple T2 Security Chip.

Linux Unified Key Setup (LUKS)

LUKS is the default full disk encryption method for Linux. It can be used to encrypt full volumes, partitions, or create encrypted containers.

Creating encrypted containers

dd if=/dev/urandom of=/path-to-file bs=1M count=1024 status=progress
sudo cryptsetup luksFormat /path-to-file

Opening encrypted containers

We recommend opening containers and volumes with udisksctl as this uses Polkit. Most file managers, such as those included with popular desktop environments, can now unlock encrypted files. Tools like udiskie can run in the system tray and provide a helpful user interface.

udisksctl loop-setup -f /path-to-file
udisksctl unlock -b /dev/loop0

Backup of volume headers

We recommend you always backup your LUKS headers in case of partial drive failure. This can be done with:

cryptsetup luksHeaderBackup /dev/device --header-backup-file /mnt/backup/file.img

hat.sh

Hat.sh is a web application that provides secure client-side file encryption in your browser. It can also be selfhosted and is useful if you need to encrypt a file but cannot install any software on your device due to organizational policies.

Kryptor

Kryptor is a free and open source file encryption and signing tool that makes use of modern and secure cryptographic algorithms. It aims to be a better version of age and Minisign to provide a simple, user friendly alternative to GPG.

Tomb

Tomb is an is a commandline shell wrapper around LUKS. It includes uses some third party tools to provide steganography.