I was using TrueCrypt until recently, until one of two options has happened: eit

Question

I was using TrueCrypt until recently, until one of two options has happened: either it was discontinued or its web-site truecrypt.org was hacked. Any option implies that I don't trust it anymore.

So I'm now looking for encryption that is both convenient (just drag and dropping a file into a container) and secure (in the sense that a Russian hacker won't break it).

No need to encrypt the whole HDD, nor individual encryption per file, but a volume encryption.

How can I tell which software is reliable, to avoid a repeat of the TrueCrypt mishap?

Explanation / Answer

Use your operating system's native encryption mechanism unless you have a good reason not to. The native feature has better integration with the rest of the system, which means easier administration, less risk of misconfiguration and less risk of programming errors, all of which add to better presumptions of security.

This means: under Windows, use Bitlocker. Under Linux, use Dm-crypt via LUKS for whole-disk encryption, and Ecryptfs for home directory encryption.

This was true even before the security of Truecrypt was seriously cast in doubt by the project homepage being modified to recommend not using it.

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