Now that the TrueCrypt project is over, I\'m wondering what could replace it. I
ID: 659446 • Letter: N
Question
Now that the TrueCrypt project is over, I'm wondering what could replace it.
I heard about two projects, both of them are forks of TrueCrypt:
TrueCrypt.ch: This one wants to be the successor of TrueCrypt, but with a transparent (non anonymous) development team, a website hosted in Switzerland (to avoid legal problems with USA), and a code repository on GitHub (in USA).
GostCrypt: A fork of TrueCrypt wanting to implement only "Non NSA related" crypto algorithms. Actually, it only implements GOST 28147-89, a Russian algorithm. At first sight, it seemed interesting to try to use different but yet robust algorithms, but it seems that GOST is not so robust.
What do you think about these projects?
Do you know an alternative that could be as simple and efficient to use as TrueCrypt?
Explanation / Answer
Not sure if it's possible at all to give a not-purely-opinon-based answer on a "what do you think about these" type of question. But let's give it a try (in the mean time, it's not like Truecrypt magically ceased to work over night).
About the first alternative that you've listed, it does not so much matter where you host your website as it matters where you host your code.
But in the end, where you host your project (and website) does not make much of a difference anyway. If the bad guys from a three-letter US agency want to shut you down your project, they'll issue a warrant which your Swiss hoster will most likely follow to avoid embargo-like consequences. Or they'll simply kidnap your wife or your child and force you to build in a backdoor or take the site down (which makes having a transparent, non-anonymous developer team a brilliant idea, indeed!).
The project seems to have been set up by Thomas Bruderer, a former Pirate (political party) and follower of Richard Dawkins' theories. He (still) seems to expect an asteroid hitting Earth in April 2036, too, if I understand his personal website correctly.
All in all, the project site looks entusiastic and probably good-willed, but equally non-credible due to the great amount of naivet
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