Private Disk is a

disk encryption Disk encryption is a technology which protects information by converting it into unreadable code that cannot be deciphered easily by unauthorized people. Disk encryption uses disk encryption software or hardware to encrypt every bit of data that g ...

application for the Microsoft Windows

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also i ...

, developed by Dekart SRL. It works by creating a virtual drive, the contents of which is encrypted on-the-fly; other software can use the drive as if it were a usual one. One of Private Disk's key selling points is in its ease of use, which is achieved by hiding complexity from the end user (e.g. data wiping is applied transparently when an encrypted image is deleted.) This simplicity does however reduce its flexibility in some respects (e.g. it only allows the use of AES-256 encryption.) Although Private Disk uses a NIST certified implementation of the AES and SHA-256/384/512 algorithms, this certification is restricted to a single component of Private Disk; the encryption/hash library used{{Cite web , url=http://www.dekart.com/fileadmin/company/Secure%20Hash%20Standart.pdf , title=Archived copy , access-date=2007-07-27 , archive-date=2007-09-28 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928120402/http://www.dekart.com/fileadmin/company/Secure%20Hash%20Standart.pdf , url-status=dead and ''not'' to Private Disk as a complete system.

Feature highlights

* NIST-certified implementation of AES-256-bit, and

SHA-2 SHA-2 (Secure Hash Algorithm 2) is a set of cryptographic hash functions designed by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and first published in 2001. They are built using the Merkle–Damgård construction, from a one-way compression ...

. Private Disk complies with FIPS 197 and FIPS 180-2 * CBC mode with secret IVs is used to encrypt the sectors of the storage volume * Disk Firewall, an application-level filter, which allows only trusted programs to access the virtual drive * Ability to run directly from a removable drive, requiring no local installation * Offers access to encrypted data on any system, even if administrative privileges are not available * Encrypted images can be accessed on Windows Mobile and Windows CE handhelds; this is achieved by making the encrypted container format compatible with containers used by SecuBox (disk encryption software by Aiko Solutions) * File wiping is applied when deleting an encrypted image * PD File Move, a file migration tool, which will locate the specified files on the system and securely move them to an encrypted disk * Compatibility with

Windows 9x Windows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced from 1995 to 2000, which were based on the Windows 95 kernel and its underlying foundation of MS-DOS, both of which were updated in su ...

and

Windows NT Windows NT is a proprietary graphical operating system produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released on July 27, 1993. It is a processor-independent, multiprocessing and multi-user operating system. The first version of Win ...

operating systems * Autorun and Autofinish automatically start a program or a script when a virtual disk is mounted or dismounted * Encrypted backup of an encrypted image * Password quality meter * Automatic backup of a disk's encryption key * Built-in password recovery tool * Compatibility with

64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit CPUs and ALUs are those that are based on processor registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. A compu ...

platforms Existing versions There are multiple versions of Private Disk, which provide a different feature set:
Private Disk
- hard disk encryption software that uses 256-bit AES encryption, is highly configurable, offers application-level protection, USB disk portability, etc.
Private Disk Multifactor
is a superset of Private Disk, providing the same functionality, adding support for

biometric authentication Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used to identify in ...

, as well as smart-card or token-based authentication.
Private Disk Light
is a free version, it uses AES-128 and comes with a restricted set of features.
Private Disk SDK
is a

software development kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific ...

that can be used to build a custom application which provides data encryption facilities.

External links

Dekart company web-page

Information about certified implementations of the cryptographic algorithms

Private Disk discussion forum

Release notes for the latest version

References

Cryptographic software Windows security software Disk encryption

Feature highlights

See also

External links

References