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From: grover@dawkins.cs.unlv.edu (Kevin Grover)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Encrypting Disk Device Driver
Message-ID: <1991May15.173908.12999@unlv.edu>
Date: 15 May 91 17:39:08 GMT
References: <1642@msa3b.UUCP>
Sender: news@unlv.edu (News User)
Reply-To: grover@dawkins.cs.unlv.edu (Kevin Grover)
Organization: UNLV Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
Lines: 32

In article <1642@msa3b.UUCP>, kevin@msa3b.UUCP (Kevin P. Kleinfelter) writes:
) 
) Scenario: I've got lots of stuff on a disk I'd like to keep CONFIDENTIAL.
)           I'd like to make sure that NOONE but I can get to the data on the
)           entire disk.
) 
) Proposal: I'd like a device driver, which manages the hard disk, and
)           encrypts all data written to the disk.  I'd like the
)           device driver to prompt me to enter the encryption key when
)           the system boots.
) 
) Does any company currently sell such a beast?  Would it genuinely
) insure that the data would be (practically) un-stealable?
) 


Norton 5.0 has something that sounds exaclty like what you described.  You create
virtual disks, any time you try to access files on the virtual disk, you are 
prompted for a password.  The virtual disk is then 'open' until you close, in
which case you would need to enter the password again to gain access.
(I suppose you could make most of the disk virtual, although I imagine that
the config.sys, autoexec.bat, and system files must be readable for boot, but
I am not sure of the specifics.)


I have never used it, but I read about it in the Norton 5.0 manuals.

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