fyi: Deniable File System - Rubberhose

[Jeff.Hodges at KingsMountain.com]

From: Owen Blacker <owen at blacker.me.uk>
Subject: Deniable File System
To: UK Crypto list <ukcrypto at chiark.greenend.org.uk>
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2006 11:43:18 +0100 (BST)
Reply-To: ukcrypto at chiark.greenend.org.uk

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/04/deniable_file_s.html

Some years ago I did some design work on something I called a Deniable 
File System. The basic idea was the fact that the existence of 
ciphertext can in itself be incriminating, regardless of whether or not 
anyone can decrypt it. I wanted to create a file system that was 
deniable: where encrypted files looked like random noise, and where it 
was impossible to prove either the existence or non-existence of 
encrypted files.

This turns out to be a very hard problem for a whole lot of reasons, and 
I never pursued the project. But I just discovered a file system that 
seems to meet all of my design criteria -- Rubberhose 
<http://iq.org/~proff/rubberhose.org/> :

    Rubberhose transparently and deniably encrypts disk data, minimising
    the effectiveness of warrants, coersive interrogations and other
    compulsive mechanims, such as U.K RIP legislation. Rubberhose differs
    from conventional disk encryption systems in that it has an advanced
    modular architecture, self-test suite, is more secure, portable,
    utilises information hiding (steganography / deniable cryptography),
    works with any file system and has source freely available.

The devil really is in the details with something like this, and I would 
hesitate to use this in places where it really matters without some 
extensive review. But I'm pleased to see that someone is working on this 
problem.

Next request: A deniable file system that fits on a USB token, and 
leaves no trace on the machine it's plugged into.


- -- 
Owen Blacker, London GB
Say no to ID cards: www.no2id.net
- --
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
  safety deserve neither liberty nor safety --Benjamin Franklin, 1759


----------

---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cryptography Mailing List
Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to majordomo at metzdowd.com