Encrypted hard drives may not be safe

**Glaswegian** · 07-17-2008, 01:38 PM

PC users employing encryption software to keep part of a computer's hard drive private, may not be as safe as they think, according to researchers at the University of Washington and BT.

They've discovered that popular programs like Word and Google Desktop store data on unencrypted sections of a computer's hard drive - even when the programs are working with encrypted files. "Information is spilling out from the encrypted region into the unencrypted region" said Tadayoshi Kohno, an assistant professor at the University of Washington in Seattle who co-wrote the study.

He believes that there are probably many other applications and operating system components that leak out information in a similar way. "I suspect that this is a potentially huge issue. We've basically cracked the surface," he said.

http://www.techworld.com/security/ne...&NewsID=102171

07-17-2008, 01:38 PM	#1 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 20,985 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 My System Blog Entries: 9	Encrypted hard drives may not be safe PC users employing encryption software to keep part of a computer's hard drive private, may not be as safe as they think, according to researchers at the University of Washington and BT. They've discovered that popular programs like Word and Google Desktop store data on unencrypted sections of a computer's hard drive - even when the programs are working with encrypted files. "Information is spilling out from the encrypted region into the unencrypted region" said Tadayoshi Kohno, an assistant professor at the University of Washington in Seattle who co-wrote the study. He believes that there are probably many other applications and operating system components that leak out information in a similar way. "I suspect that this is a potentially huge issue. We've basically cracked the surface," he said. http://www.techworld.com/security/ne...&NewsID=102171 __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. Ad-Aware::SpywareBlaster::SpyBot::SpywareGuard::SnoopFree::AVG Free::HOSTS File::HijackThis::Donate::5 Steps For Infected PCs