this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2025
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I was recently intrigued to learn that only half of the respondents to a survey said that they used disk encryption. Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows have been increasingly using encryption by default. On the other hand, while most Linux installers I've encountered include the option to encrypt, it is not selected by default.

Whether it's a test bench, beater laptop, NAS, or daily driver, I encrypt for peace of mind. Whatever I end up doing on my machines, I can be pretty confident my data won't end up in the wrong hands if the drive is stolen or lost and can be erased by simply overwriting the LUKS header. Recovering from an unbootable state or copying files out from an encrypted boot drive only takes a couple more commands compared to an unencrypted setup.

But that's just me and I'm curious to hear what other reasons to encrypt or not to encrypt are out there.

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[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago (4 children)

No need as none of them are networked

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[–] 9488fcea02a9@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago

All my important files are on a NAS, so if someone steals my laptop, there's nothing of value there without being able to log in and mount the remote file systems

[–] bier@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago

I made the mistake of not setting up encryption on my main 45TB zfs pool so I'm currently backing up everything on there to tape so I can recreate the pool (also need to change from mirrored to raidz) and then copying everything back to the drives. Although writing and reading each are around 6 days continuesly. Didn't want to bite the bullet and pay more then I absolutely had to and only got a LTO-4 drive and tapes.

[–] LiamMayfair@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yes. Encrypting your entire hard drive has basically been a tickbox in the Fedora installer for a long time now. No reason why I wouldn't do it. It's, easy, doesn't give me any problems and improves my devices security with defence-in-depth. No brainer.

[–] data1701d@startrek.website 1 points 1 week ago

It’s a smidge more difficult on Debian if you want to use a non-ext4 filesystem - granted for most people, ext4’s probably still fine. I use it on my desktop, which doesn’t have encryption.

[–] SitD@lemy.lol 1 points 1 week ago (5 children)

are you guys using the bios ssd encryption option or a software solution?

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[–] endeavor@sopuli.xyz 0 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I do not as I do not have any sensitive data and what data is sensitive are the digital documents which are securely encrypted by default via id card and its passwords.

If I start having something worth protecting I will turn on fedoras encryption. But until then anyone who manages to steal my 100 eur thinkpad and guess its password is welcome to try out linux and see if they like it I guess.

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[–] loudWaterEnjoyer@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I was recently intrigued to learn that only half of the respondents to a survey said that they used NO disk encryption.

Is the other half alright?

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[–] Ulrich@feddit.org -1 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Because it requires generating, memorizing and entering a secure password. Because Linux typically doesn't support fingerprint readers or other biometrics.

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[–] obsolete@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

No. I prefer the quickest way to share my data between different computers and operating systems on my home network. I will also mention that my network is not accessible over the internet.

[–] EveryMuffinIsNowEncrypted@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Speaking as someone who doesn't encrypt their desktop but is thinking about it:

you can't share (readable) data over one's home network if the sending PC is disk-encrypted?

For example, are you saying that if I send a video file from my PC, which is disk-encrypted, over LAN to my NAS, then the NAS would not be able to read said file?

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