LUKS: Difference between revisions

change from title to heading so the page isn't hidden on mobile
mark some words as needing entry to glossary
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Ciphers scramble the [[files]] that will be saved, so it's important to pick a good one. Almost all computers have, for many decades now, have had built in support for [[AES]], making it the fastest and most secure option for pretty much everyone.
Ciphers scramble the [[files]] that will be saved, so it's important to pick a good one. Almost all computers have, for many decades now, have had built in support for [[AES]], making it the fastest and most secure option for pretty much everyone.


== On-disk Format ==
== On-disk [[Format]] ==
The on-disk format helps prevent the scrambled files from being modified while the computer is turned off. Since most computers already have built in support for [[XTS]], it makes it the fastest and most secure option.
The on-disk format helps prevent the scrambled files from being modified while the computer is turned off. Since most computers already have built in support for [[XTS]], it makes it the fastest and most secure option.


== Initialization Vectors ( IV ) ==
== [[Initialization]] [[Vectors]] ( IV ) ==
By looking at the scrambled files on the disk, it is possible to find some patterns like, for example, images. IV helps prevent this! If you're using XTS, [[plain64]] is the fastest and most secure option.
By looking at the scrambled files on the disk, it is possible to find some patterns like, for example, images. IV helps prevent this! If you're using XTS, [[plain64]] is the fastest and most secure option.


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Password hashing helps make passwords that are not secure harder to break. A ''very'' secure password needs no hashing, but since making a very secure password is difficult, it's a good idea to use hashing. [[Argon2]] is the most secure option for most users.  
Password hashing helps make passwords that are not secure harder to break. A ''very'' secure password needs no hashing, but since making a very secure password is difficult, it's a good idea to use hashing. [[Argon2]] is the most secure option for most users.  


== Iteration Time ==
== [[Iteration]] Time ==
Since some computers are faster than others, your computer will test to see how many times it can hash your password in this amount of time. The default is 2 seconds, and that's usually good enough. If your computer is very slow, and you're OK with waiting a bit longer for a more secure hash, you may wanna set it for a bit longer!
Since some computers are faster than others, your computer will test to see how many times it can hash your password in this amount of time. The default is 2 seconds, and that's usually good enough. If your computer is very slow, and you're OK with waiting a bit longer for a more secure hash, you may wanna set it for a bit longer!