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I just nuked my home server Ubuntu and installed Windows. Canonical is still unable to make reliable TPM-unlocked full disk encryption, unacceptable for me as a

I just nuked my home server Ubuntu and installed Windows. Canonical is still unable to make reliable TPM-unlocked full disk encryption, unacceptable for me as a data hoarder. https://bugs.launchpad.net/snapd/+bug/2045417 https://bugs.launchpad.net/snapd/+bug/2045417

binkHN 1y ago
Don't use Ubuntu?
- lostmsu 1y ago
  That's exactly what I thought and acted.
ezst 1y ago
But somehow the malware infested/backdoored alternative has more appeal? Even more than the myriad of other distros, or DIY options for that matter? Doesn't click.
- lostmsu 1y ago
  > myriad of other distros, or DIY options for that matter Have you ever seen a working configuration? The only other distro that advertises it out of the box is Fedora. And maybe it is better in this respect than Ubuntu, but I already wasted a few days dealing with the fallout, so maybe I'll try it next year. Manual - maybe. But is spending time learning yet another distro worth the Windows license? re: malware/backdoored I am not running self-wafered CPU, so backdoors at certain levels are outside of the threat model. If anything, Ubuntu was "malware" in the sense that it didn't work as advertised. https://documentation.ubuntu.com/core/how-to-guides/manage-ubuntu-core/use-a-recovery-mode/#using-recovery-keys https://documentation.ubuntu.com/core/how-to-guides/manage-u... > After entering a valid key, Ubuntu Core will decrypt the device, proceed with the boot, and restore the TPM from the recovered key. The recovery keys will remain the same and do not need to be retrieved again. The restore TPM bit just didn't happen.
  - esseph 1y ago
    Ubuntu is historically unstable and unreliable, in my experience. I would never suggest it for home or work use.
thesuitonym 1y ago
This is something that's bugged me about BitLocker for ages: What's the point of encrypting your disks if the computer automatically decrypts them anyway? The only situation I can see where this helps you is if someone steals your disk but not your computer, but that seems very unlikely to me. Maybe if someone just clones the disk, but again, it seems much more likely to me that if you're a high enough value target to do that, a bad actor would just grab your device.
- pixl97 1y ago
  Bitlocker has options to require a pin/password/network attestation at boot. Most people don't use it, but it exists. Also, a lot of data theft is from after a disk is disposed of and reused. Bitlocker prevents that from happening.
- lostmsu 1y ago
  It does decrypt them. But then what? How are you the thief going to extract them or data from RAM of a working machine?
  - lkjdsklf 1y ago
    If it’s decrypted, you don’t need to steal it from RAM. You just do normal file operations and copy the files
    - adgjlsfhk1 1y ago
      you need to login to do that. The point of bitlocker is that it prevents filesystem access from a different OS install.
- cesarb 1y ago
  > What's the point of encrypting your disks if the computer automatically decrypts them anyway? The important detail you're missing is: the computer automatically decrypts your disks if you're booting into that operating system. Try booting into something else (like a Linux CD), and you'll see that the TPM does not release the encryption key (the way it works is that each step of the boot sequence records into the TPM what's going on, and the TPM will only release the key if the sequence matches what it expects). The point is that the disks will only be decrypted when booting into the expected OS, and that this OS will require you to login before giving anyone access to your files. > The only situation I can see where this helps you is if someone steals your disk but not your computer, but that seems very unlikely to me. It'll also help if someone steals the computer but does not have your login password; they can boot into Windows, the files will be decrypted while booted into Windows, but without logging into your account, they are not accessible. Of course, unless you're using memory encryption (which I don't think is normally available on normal non-server devices), someone with the right hardware knowledge and an expensive set of hardware tools could in theory manipulate the RAM to get access.

binkHN 1y ago

Don't use Ubuntu?

lostmsu 1y ago
That's exactly what I thought and acted.

ezst 1y ago

But somehow the malware infested/backdoored alternative has more appeal? Even more than the myriad of other distros, or DIY options for that matter? Doesn't click.

lostmsu 1y ago
> myriad of other distros, or DIY options for that matter Have you ever seen a working configuration? The only other distro that advertises it out of the box is Fedora. And maybe it is better in this respect than Ubuntu, but I already wasted a few days dealing with the fallout, so maybe I'll try it next year. Manual - maybe. But is spending time learning yet another distro worth the Windows license? re: malware/backdoored I am not running self-wafered CPU, so backdoors at certain levels are outside of the threat model. If anything, Ubuntu was "malware" in the sense that it didn't work as advertised. https://documentation.ubuntu.com/core/how-to-guides/manage-ubuntu-core/use-a-recovery-mode/#using-recovery-keys https://documentation.ubuntu.com/core/how-to-guides/manage-u... > After entering a valid key, Ubuntu Core will decrypt the device, proceed with the boot, and restore the TPM from the recovered key. The recovery keys will remain the same and do not need to be retrieved again. The restore TPM bit just didn't happen.
- esseph 1y ago
  Ubuntu is historically unstable and unreliable, in my experience. I would never suggest it for home or work use.

thesuitonym 1y ago

This is something that's bugged me about BitLocker for ages: What's the point of encrypting your disks if the computer automatically decrypts them anyway? The only situation I can see where this helps you is if someone steals your disk but not your computer, but that seems very unlikely to me. Maybe if someone just clones the disk, but again, it seems much more likely to me that if you're a high enough value target to do that, a bad actor would just grab your device.

pixl97 1y ago
Bitlocker has options to require a pin/password/network attestation at boot. Most people don't use it, but it exists. Also, a lot of data theft is from after a disk is disposed of and reused. Bitlocker prevents that from happening.
lostmsu 1y ago
It does decrypt them. But then what? How are you the thief going to extract them or data from RAM of a working machine?
- lkjdsklf 1y ago
  If it’s decrypted, you don’t need to steal it from RAM. You just do normal file operations and copy the files
  - adgjlsfhk1 1y ago
    you need to login to do that. The point of bitlocker is that it prevents filesystem access from a different OS install.
cesarb 1y ago
> What's the point of encrypting your disks if the computer automatically decrypts them anyway? The important detail you're missing is: the computer automatically decrypts your disks if you're booting into that operating system. Try booting into something else (like a Linux CD), and you'll see that the TPM does not release the encryption key (the way it works is that each step of the boot sequence records into the TPM what's going on, and the TPM will only release the key if the sequence matches what it expects). The point is that the disks will only be decrypted when booting into the expected OS, and that this OS will require you to login before giving anyone access to your files. > The only situation I can see where this helps you is if someone steals your disk but not your computer, but that seems very unlikely to me. It'll also help if someone steals the computer but does not have your login password; they can boot into Windows, the files will be decrypted while booted into Windows, but without logging into your account, they are not accessible. Of course, unless you're using memory encryption (which I don't think is normally available on normal non-server devices), someone with the right hardware knowledge and an expensive set of hardware tools could in theory manipulate the RAM to get access.