<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
utility	B-Application
for	O
on-the-fly	O
encryption	O
(	O
OTFE	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
can	O
also	O
encrypt	O
a	O
partition	B-Application
or	O
(	O
in	O
Windows	O
)	O
the	O
entire	O
storage	B-General_Concept
device	I-General_Concept
with	O
pre-boot	O
authentication	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
fork	B-Application
of	O
the	O
discontinued	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
security	O
improvements	O
have	O
been	O
implemented	O
and	O
concerns	O
within	O
the	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
code	O
audits	O
have	O
been	O
addressed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
includes	O
optimizations	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
cryptographic	B-Algorithm
hash	I-Algorithm
functions	I-Algorithm
and	O
ciphers	B-Application
,	O
which	O
boost	O
performance	O
on	O
modern	O
CPUs	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
employs	O
AES	B-Algorithm
,	O
Serpent	B-Algorithm
,	O
Twofish	B-Algorithm
,	O
Camellia	B-Algorithm
,	O
and	O
Kuznyechik	B-Algorithm
as	O
ciphers	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
1.19	O
stopped	O
using	O
the	O
Magma	B-Algorithm
cipher	B-Application
in	O
response	O
to	O
a	O
security	O
audit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
cryptographic	B-Algorithm
hash	I-Algorithm
functions	I-Algorithm
available	O
for	O
use	O
in	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
are	O
RIPEMD-160	B-Algorithm
,	O
SHA-256	B-Algorithm
,	O
SHA-512	B-Algorithm
,	O
Streebog	B-Algorithm
and	O
Whirlpool	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
's	O
block	B-Algorithm
cipher	I-Algorithm
mode	I-Algorithm
of	I-Algorithm
operation	I-Algorithm
is	O
XTS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
default	O
they	O
go	O
through	O
200,000	O
to	O
655,331	O
iterations	O
,	O
depending	O
on	O
the	O
underlying	O
hash	B-Algorithm
function	I-Algorithm
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
development	O
team	O
considered	O
the	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
storage	O
format	O
too	O
vulnerable	O
to	O
a	O
National	O
Security	O
Agency	O
(	O
NSA	O
)	O
attack	O
,	O
so	O
it	O
created	O
a	O
new	O
format	O
incompatible	O
with	O
that	O
of	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
is	O
still	O
capable	O
of	O
opening	O
and	O
converting	O
volumes	O
in	O
the	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
independent	O
security	O
audit	O
of	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
released	O
29	O
September	O
2015	O
found	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
includes	O
two	O
vulnerabilities	O
in	O
the	O
Windows	O
installation	O
driver	O
allowing	O
an	O
attacker	O
arbitrary	O
code	O
execution	O
and	O
privilege	O
escalation	O
via	O
DLL	O
hijacking	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
fixed	O
in	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
in	O
January	O
2016	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
uses	O
1,000	O
iterations	O
of	O
the	O
PBKDF2-RIPEMD160	O
algorithm	O
for	O
system	O
partitions	B-Application
,	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
uses	O
either	O
200,000	O
or	O
327,661	O
iterations	O
by	O
default	O
(	O
which	O
is	O
customizable	O
by	O
user	O
to	O
be	O
as	O
low	O
as	O
2,048	O
)	O
,	O
depending	O
on	O
the	O
algorithm	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
standard	O
containers	O
and	O
other	O
partitions	B-Application
,	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
uses	O
655,331	O
iterations	O
of	O
RIPEMD160	B-Algorithm
and	O
500,000	O
iterations	O
of	O
SHA-2	B-Algorithm
and	O
Whirlpool	B-Algorithm
by	O
default	O
(	O
which	O
is	O
customizable	O
by	O
user	O
to	O
be	O
as	O
low	O
as	O
16,000	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
these	O
default	O
settings	O
make	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
slower	O
at	O
opening	O
encrypted	O
partitions	B-Application
,	O
it	O
also	O
makes	O
password-guessing	O
attacks	O
slower	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Veracrypt	B-Operating_System
out	O
of	O
the	O
box	O
uses	O
a	O
reasonable	O
PIM	O
value	O
to	O
improve	O
security	O
,	O
but	O
users	O
can	O
provide	O
a	O
higher	O
value	O
to	O
enhance	O
security	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
developers	O
added	O
support	O
for	O
SHA-256	B-Algorithm
to	O
the	O
system	O
boot	O
encryption	O
option	O
and	O
also	O
fixed	O
a	O
ShellExecute	O
security	O
issue	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Linux	B-Application
and	O
macOS	B-Application
users	O
benefit	O
from	O
support	O
for	O
hard	O
drives	O
with	O
sector	O
sizes	O
larger	O
than	O
512	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Linux	B-Application
also	O
received	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
NTFS	B-Application
formatting	O
of	O
volumes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
added	O
the	O
capability	O
to	O
boot	O
system	O
partitions	B-Application
using	O
UEFI	B-Architecture
in	O
version	O
1.18a	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Erasing	O
the	O
system	O
encryption	O
keys	O
from	O
RAM	B-Architecture
during	O
shutdown/reboot	O
helps	O
mitigate	O
some	O
cold	O
boot	O
attacks	O
,	O
added	O
in	O
version	O
1.24	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RAM	B-Architecture
encryption	O
for	O
keys	O
and	O
passwords	O
on	O
64-bit	B-Device
systems	O
was	O
added	O
in	O
version	O
1.24	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
,	O
the	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
documentation	O
instructs	O
users	O
to	O
follow	O
various	O
security	O
precautions	O
to	O
mitigate	O
these	O
attacks	O
,	O
several	O
of	O
which	O
are	O
detailed	O
below	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
stores	O
its	O
keys	O
in	O
RAM	B-Architecture
;	O
on	O
some	O
personal	O
computers	O
DRAM	O
will	O
maintain	O
its	O
contents	O
for	O
several	O
seconds	O
after	O
power	O
is	O
cut	O
(	O
or	O
longer	O
if	O
the	O
temperature	O
is	O
lowered	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
if	O
there	O
is	O
some	O
degradation	O
in	O
the	O
memory	B-Architecture
contents	O
,	O
various	O
algorithms	O
may	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
recover	O
the	O
keys	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
method	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
cold	O
boot	O
attack	O
(	O
which	O
would	O
apply	O
in	O
particular	O
to	O
a	O
notebook	O
computer	O
obtained	O
while	O
in	O
power-on	O
,	O
suspended	O
,	O
or	O
screen-locked	O
mode	O
)	O
,	O
was	O
successfully	O
used	O
to	O
attack	O
a	O
file	O
system	O
protected	O
by	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
versions	O
4.3a	O
and	O
5.0a	O
in	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
version	O
1.24	O
,	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
added	O
the	O
option	O
of	O
encrypting	O
the	O
in-RAM	O
keys	O
and	O
passwords	O
on	O
x64	B-Device
editions	I-Device
of	O
Windows	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
CPU	B-Device
overhead	O
of	O
less	O
than	O
10%	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
option	O
of	O
erasing	O
all	O
encryption	O
keys	O
from	O
memory	B-Architecture
when	O
a	O
new	O
device	O
is	O
connected	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
documentation	O
states	O
that	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
is	O
unable	O
to	O
secure	O
data	O
on	O
a	O
computer	O
if	O
an	O
attacker	O
physically	O
accessed	O
it	O
and	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
is	O
then	O
used	O
on	O
the	O
compromised	O
computer	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
again	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
attacker	O
having	O
physical	O
access	O
to	O
a	O
computer	O
can	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
install	O
a	O
hardware	B-Device
or	O
a	O
software	O
keylogger	O
,	O
a	O
bus-mastering	B-Architecture
device	O
capturing	O
memory	B-Architecture
or	O
install	O
any	O
other	O
malicious	O
hardware	B-Device
or	O
software	O
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
attacker	O
to	O
capture	O
unencrypted	O
data	O
(	O
including	O
encryption	O
keys	O
and	O
passwords	O
)	O
or	O
to	O
decrypt	O
encrypted	O
data	O
using	O
captured	O
passwords	O
or	O
encryption	O
keys	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
does	O
not	O
take	O
advantage	O
of	O
Trusted	O
Platform	O
Module	O
(	O
TPM	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
FAQ	O
repeats	O
the	O
negative	O
opinion	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
developers	O
verbatim	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
developers	O
were	O
of	O
the	O
opinion	O
that	O
the	O
exclusive	O
purpose	O
of	O
the	O
TPM	O
is	O
"	O
to	O
protect	O
against	O
attacks	O
that	O
require	O
the	O
attacker	O
to	O
have	O
administrator	O
privileges	O
,	O
or	O
physical	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
computer	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
attacker	O
who	O
has	O
physical	O
or	O
administrative	O
access	O
to	O
a	O
computer	O
can	O
circumvent	O
TPM	O
,	O
e.g.	O
,	O
by	O
installing	O
a	O
hardware	B-Device
keystroke	O
logger	O
,	O
by	O
resetting	O
TPM	O
,	O
or	O
by	O
capturing	O
memory	B-Architecture
contents	O
and	O
retrieving	O
TPM-issued	O
keys	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
its	O
predecessor	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
,	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
supports	O
plausible	O
deniability	O
by	O
allowing	O
a	O
single	O
"	O
hidden	O
volume	O
"	O
to	O
be	O
created	O
within	O
another	O
volume	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Windows	O
versions	O
of	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
can	O
create	O
and	O
run	O
a	O
hidden	O
encrypted	O
operating	O
system	O
whose	O
existence	O
may	O
be	O
denied	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
documentation	O
lists	O
ways	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
hidden	O
volume	O
deniability	O
features	O
may	O
be	O
compromised	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
by	O
third-party	O
software	O
which	O
may	O
leak	O
information	O
through	O
temporary	O
files	O
or	O
via	O
thumbnails	O
)	O
and	O
possible	O
ways	O
to	O
avoid	O
this	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
supports	O
parallelized	B-Operating_System
encryption	O
for	O
multi-core	B-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
Microsoft	O
Windows	O
,	O
pipelined	B-General_Concept
read	O
and	O
write	O
operations	O
(	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
asynchronous	O
processing	O
)	O
to	O
reduce	O
the	O
performance	O
hit	O
of	O
encryption	O
and	O
decryption	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
processors	O
supporting	O
the	O
AES-NI	O
instruction	O
set	O
,	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
supports	O
hardware-accelerated	O
AES	B-Algorithm
to	O
further	O
improve	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
64-bit	B-Device
CPUs	B-Device
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
uses	O
optimized	O
assembly	B-Language
implementation	O
of	O
Twofish	B-Algorithm
,	O
Serpent	B-Algorithm
,	O
and	O
Camellia	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
was	O
forked	B-Application
from	O
the	O
since-discontinued	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
project	O
in	O
2013	O
.	O
and	O
originally	O
contained	O
mostly	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
code	O
released	O
under	O
the	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
License	O
3.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
years	O
since	O
,	O
more	O
and	O
more	O
of	O
Veracrypt	B-Operating_System
's	O
code	O
has	O
been	O
rewritten	O
and	O
released	O
under	O
the	O
permissive	O
Apache	B-Application
License	I-Application
2.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
license	O
is	O
generally	O
considered	O
to	O
be	O
source-available	B-License
but	O
not	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open	I-License
source	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Apache	B-Application
license	I-Application
is	O
universally	O
considered	O
to	O
be	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open	I-License
source	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
mixed	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
license	O
is	O
widely	O
but	O
not	O
universally	O
considered	O
to	O
be	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open	I-License
source	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
28	O
May	O
2014	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
was	O
abandoned	O
under	O
unusual	O
circumstances	O
,	O
and	O
there	O
exists	O
no	O
way	O
to	O
contact	O
the	O
former	O
developers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
is	O
considered	O
to	O
be	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open	I-License
source	I-License
by	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
is	O
considered	O
to	O
not	O
be	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open	I-License
source	I-License
by	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
members	O
of	O
the	O
Open	O
Source	O
Initiative	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
director	O
,	O
expressed	O
concern	O
about	O
an	O
older	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
license	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
OSI	O
itself	O
has	O
not	O
published	O
a	O
determination	O
regarding	O
either	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
or	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Operating_System
Free	I-Operating_System
Software	I-Operating_System
Foundation	I-Operating_System
has	O
determined	O
the	O
TrueCrypt	B-Application
license	O
to	O
be	O
non-free	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
FSF	O
has	O
not	O
published	O
a	O
determination	O
regarding	O
the	O
VeraCrypt	B-Operating_System
license	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
of	O
these	O
are	O
due	O
to	O
Veracrypt	B-Operating_System
and	O
Truecrypt	B-Application
not	O
having	O
supported	O
or	O
endorsed	O
licenses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
FSF	O
considers	O
all	O
licenses	O
not	O
under	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
license	O
series	O
that	O
interfere	O
with	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
license	O
to	O
be	O
non-free	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Debian	O
considers	O
all	O
software	O
that	O
does	O
not	O
meet	O
the	O
guidelines	O
of	O
its	O
DFSG	B-License
.	O
</s>
