Comment on Encrypting data on local servers?

lorentz@feddit.it ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

If you want to encrypt only the data partition you can use an approach like …stapelberg.ch/…/2023-10-25-my-all-flash-zfs-netw… to ulock it at boot.

TL;DR: store half of the decryption key on the computer and another half online and write a script that at boot fetches the second half and decrypt the drive. There is a timewindow where a thief could decrypt your data before you remove the key if they connect your computer to the network, but depending on your thread model can be acceptable. you can also decrypt the root portion with a similar approach but you need to store the script in the initramfs and it is not trivial.

Another option I’ve seen suggested is storing the decryption key on a USB pendrive and connect it with a long extension cord to the server. The assumption is that a thief would unplug all the cables before stealing your server.

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