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Date:      Fri, 5 May 2000 08:30:43 +1000
From:      Peter Jeremy <peter.jeremy@alcatel.com.au>
To:        "Andrew J. Korty" <ajk@iu.edu>
Cc:        security@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Cryptographic dump(8)
Message-ID:  <00May5.083045est.115878@border.alcanet.com.au>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.21.0005031019190.21805-100000@kobayashi.uits.iupui.edu>; from ajk@iu.edu on Thu, May 04, 2000 at 01:34:31AM %2B1000
References:  <Pine.BSF.4.21.0005031019190.21805-100000@kobayashi.uits.iupui.edu>

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On 2000-May-04 01:34:31 +1000, "Andrew J. Korty" <ajk@iu.edu> wrote:
>I've just extended dump(8) and restore(8) to encipher dump lists
>and inode data with CBC 3DES, leaving the headers as cleartext.  

BTW, unless you're using H/W encryption, 3DES is quite slow - and will
probably be the limiting factor in your dump/restore speed.  This may
or may not be an issue.  If it is, you might like to look at
alternative algorithms.

Another comment that people haven't mentioned is that since you're
dumping in a non-standard format, your restore program is critical.
Remember to keep a couple of known-good copies around in an format
you can get at - eg tar a copy of the restore onto the front of each
backup, or build your own bootable, recovery CD including it.

>The question: what is the best way to verify a key handed to
>restore(8) to decipher a dump?

Matt suggested storing an unencrypted hash of the unencrypted header,
together with the encrypted header.

Another option, if your key management (which you seem to have glossed
over) can handle larger keys:  Define the key as the concatenation of
the 3DES key and 8 bytes of random data.  Those 8 bytes are stored
encrypted in the header.  After decryption, verify that you get back
the random data you started with.

Peter


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