[–] VimTsar 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
On Linux you can encrypt everything except /boot partition, which contains kernel and typically bootloader files. Good news is that you can move this partition along with bootloader to flash/sdcard and carry it with you to prevent bootkit attacks.
Partitions are still having LUKS(linux encrypted) headers, which tells what kind of OS and type of encryption is used. LUKS supports storing header externally (for example on afforementioned external storage) but it's not supported by lot of tools and system apllications (for example systemD didn't support external header, not sure about now) and might complicate recovery in case of problems.
Also on OpenBSD FDE is supported only with bootloader needing to readable. Proprietary OSes open too much potential holes/backdoors, so encryption against serious adversary is futile and against non-serious one encryption of user account should be enough.
Further detail for example: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Dm-crypt/Encrypting_an_entire_system
[–] jammi 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
That was like more than a decade ago, which is in OS X adoption time like someone mentioned some Windows 3.1 or 95 limitation in Windows context. But yeah, the first version of FileVault encrypted the home directory as an encrypted disk image volume.
[–] zeitsieben ago
At my work, directors use Symantec Full Disk Encryption. The OS itself is encrypted, but not the bootloader so, theoretically, you can at least read what's going on under the table (I have no idea how one would do that). There's a master key in the administration system, so if someone knows it, they have the keys to the kingdom and can modify every single computer that uses it that's inserted in the domain.
The laptops run VERY slowly; 5400RPM hard drives are virtually unusable if you want to do anything (I'm talking about 7+ minutes boot time). Trust me, you need an SSD to run that. Also, they're prone to bootloader corruption, and if that happens, we decrypt it with the master key and a software called BartPE. After decrypting, the OS always corrupted itself somehow and I don't know if that's intended (well, must be), so you have to use that program to copy whatever data you have in the hard drive to a external storage. It's a necessary evil to us.
[–] e0steven ago
Or maybe the Symantec product is crap? Their antivirus is horrendous
[–] zeitsieben ago (edited ago)
Well, I wouldn't say that. Their antivirus provides us with a centralized administration console which the security guys can put all kinds of rules. I'm pretty sure there are better solutions out there, or ones that do the same thing/have more functions that cost less than it. In the corporate world, you essentially need to put the blame on someone if things go awry and as far as I know, their support was top notch and the new vulnerabilities that appear on our networks are dealt swiftly due to the policies updates.