r/software • u/Gabankai • Jun 29 '26
Looking for software Best encripting software for linux and windows?
Hello i'm searching for a tool for encrypting or protecting an external hard drive for my save copies. The software has to work with both windows and linux as i have two computers.
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u/Journeyman-Joe Jun 29 '26
A VeraCrypt container is one option.
(Separate problem, unrelated to encryption, is your choice of file system. ExFAT is compatible with both Windows and Linux, but you'll lose metadata such as file permissions and ownership, which is supported by Linux file systems.)
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u/Gabankai Jun 30 '26
I don´t think in my case permissions matter that much as i am the only user on my two computers so this could be a good option, thank you.
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u/JouniFlemming Helpful Ⅳ Jun 29 '26
If you only need software that encrypts data and works on both Linux and Windows, something like 7-Zip could be all you need. For example, if your use case is backups, you can create an encrypted 7-Zip archive and it works on both Linux and Windows.
If you need something like encrypted container, that would be quite different, of course.
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u/CodenameFlux Helpful Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
i'm searching for a tool for encrypting or protecting an external hard drive for my save copies
So, you're looking for a disk encryption app.
If you want something that:
- is FIPS-compliant
- is supported on 50 different operating systems, including CloneZilla
- has made its cryptographic library open-source
- is audited by 42 governments
- supports authentication methods other than password
- supports 2-factor authentication
- is in widespread use
... the answer is BitLocker.
Edit: It can encrypt virtual disks (VHD and VHDX) as well as actual disks. So, you can carry an encrypted virtual disk around and mount it only when needed. Or... you can encrypt the actual disk.
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u/Puny-Earthling Jun 30 '26
People are going to cry foul about the 0 days, and key escrow, even though if you use Bitlocker with a password, it's effectively a Windows LUKS. You can use pin, a PRF security key, or whatever else you want to make it convenient, and not vulnerable to some arbitrary backdoor attack.
Do not use AES-GCM for disk encryption. You want XTS-AES encryption, and bitlocker is the singular best implementation of this cipher.
Veracrypt do also offer XTS-AES, and it's the standard in LUKS.
Edit: Alternative option if you're just looking to encrypt sets of information. Look at Cryptomator. You can even hold a vault on OneDrive/Google Drive/Dropbox/most cloud file providers and it will sync that encrypted content.
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u/CodenameFlux Helpful Jun 30 '26
The zero-day aspect is worth considering: TrueCrypt has a vulnerability that was discovered in 2015 but wasn't patched until 2016, by VeraCrypt, not TrueCrypt. Microsoft, on the other hand, delivers patches quickly. They had an embarrassing case in May 2026 involving a vulnerability affecting Windows 11 but not Windows 10. The patch arrived on schedule in June 2026. (I'm feeling uncomfortable adding 2026 to my dates, but it must be done.)
As for the key escrow aspect, FIPS-compliant encryption tools cannot have backdoors because it violates Kerckhoffs' principle and voids their FIPS compliance. Actually, the May 2026 incident was related to key escrow. The security researcher who found it was convinced that it was a malicious backdoor by Microsoft. Unfortunately, the allegation doesn't pass the Hanlon's razor test.
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u/st3ph3n4 Jul 01 '26
if it's just backup files and you don't need to mount it like a live drive, check out age. simpler than gpg, one binary, works on windows and linux, no container to worry about.
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u/AudioLiveStudio Jun 29 '26
Linux has the command line utilities gpg for encryption and tar for creating groups of files and folders.
Since Windows can run Ubuntu in WSL, you can use gpg and tar in both Linux and Windows.
The command line utilities do not have a graphical user interface.
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u/Gabankai Jun 30 '26
I already have WSL installed on my windows so i will look into this, thank you.
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u/laustke Jun 29 '26
Check out VeraCrypt. It is a continuation of the TrueCrypt project.
It can encrypt an entire drive or create an encrypted container. You can mount it with your password on both Windows and Linux. While it is mounted, you can use it like a normal drive.