Tag: encryption

Securing Your Disks with PGP Whole Disk Encryption [TidBITS: Mac News for the Rest of Us]

A generally good review of the new PGP disk encryption software, but I do see a couple of problems. First, the author only hints at how it works with Time Machine, which is an area of interest to me. In theory it should be fine (although obviously you’d need to encrypt Time Machine’s backup volume too), but when it comes to software compatibility theory and practice often diverge.

Second, the author says that it’s a “limitation” that PGP Whole Disk Encryption only secures your data when the computer is off, and not just while it’s asleep. I consider that a necessary function, not a limitation. Because it’s entirely possible to recover sensitive data (such as the passphrase for the hard drive) from a “sleeping” computer’s memory, claiming to encrypt when a computer is put to sleep would only be providing a false sense of security.

I’m interested in this product for my own use, but given PGP, Inc.’s rather spotty record to date (they’ve managed to render their main PGP product unusable in the name of usability improvements), I’m waiting for a while to be sure that there aren’t any hidden problems.