Some of you (or perhaps most of you) may have already heard of LUKS. LUKS is an acronym for the Linux Unified Key Setup. For the people that don’t know yet, LUKS is a disk encryption method originally intended for Linux. It encrypts your entire hard disk (except for the Boot/efi partition). While most regular disk encryption software share the limitation of being incompatible for other purposes, LUKS distinguishes itself by implementing a platform-independent standard on-disk format so that it can be used for a variety of tools. LUKS uses AES 256 encryption. Furthermore, while booting your desktop/laptop (before logging in) your encryption key will be required in order to continue.
Why should you use LUKS?
LUKS provides people with a number of benefits. First of all, the compatibility due to the standardization makes it easy-to-use in multiple situations. It also provides you with the necessary security against low entropy attacks, support for multiple keys and effective passphrase revocation. Last but not least, it’s completely free! It only requires some of your time and attention to set-up.
Ubuntu and LUKS
This method of encrypting your data is now available for Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu and Linux Mint. Encrypting your data is of course really important nowadays, and we from Laptop with Linux share this point of view. Especially since the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came to life, this has become an increasingly important topic in society. Companies already encrypt their data on computers in order to reduce the probability of a data breach. We believe that individual customers should also protect their data from possible data breaches. LUKS is an excellent way in doing that.
How does Laptop with Linux provide you an encryption key?
When you decide to opt for a Full Disk Encryption, Laptop with Linux is required to generate and provide you an encryption key. By default we generate a unique key per laptop, consisting of a minimum of 12 characters with a combination of symbols, numbers, lowercase and uppercase characters. We provide you with this unique encryption key through your preferred channel of choice: WhatsApp, ProtonMail or registered mail (which brings additional costs and is currently only available for our Dutch customers). Important to note: we only provide you with this encryption key once and we do not save it!
How to edit the default encryption key that Laptop with Linux provides?
We strongly advise you to adjust the encryption key we have generated for you immediately after the first boot! To make it as easy as possible for you to modify the encryption key we have generated for you, we have created a script to guide you through it. After the laptop is fully booted up (you have entered the encryption key generated by us and logged yourself into the system) this script is activated. If you follow the script wizard, you can change the encryption key to a key of your choice in no time.
Buy your laptop with LUKS encryption!
Want to keep your data protected at all costs? Order a laptop from Laptop With Linux and set-up LUKS encryption now! Take a look at all the different laptops and options that we offer and configure your desired laptop from scratch! Do you have any questions about LUKS, Laptop with Linux, or other related questions? Feel free to contact us, we would love to help you with it.