Other Projects ============== There are several open-source file encryption solutions for Linux available. In contrast to disk-encryption software that operate on whole disks (TrueCrypt, dm-crypt etc), file encryption operates on individual files that can be backed up or synchronised easily. This page compares: * [gocryptfs](https://nuetzlich.net/gocryptfs/) (this project), aspiring successor of EncFS * [EncFS](https://github.com/vgough/encfs), mature with known security issues * [eCryptFS](http://ecryptfs.org/), integrated into the Linux kernel * [Cryptomator](https://cryptomator.org/), strong cross-platform support through Java and WebDAV * [securefs](https://github.com/netheril96/securefs), a new C++ project that implementes directories as user-space B+ trees If you spot an error or want to see a project added, please [file a ticket](https://github.com/rfjakob/gocryptfs-website)! Overview -------- | | gocryptfs | encfs | ecryptfs | cryptomator | securefs | | ------------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------ | --------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ------------------ | | First release | 2015 [1] | 2003 [2] | 2006 [3] | 2014 [4] | 2015 [10] | | Language | Go | C++ | C | Java | C++ | | License | MIT | LGPL/GPL [5] | GPL | MIT | MIT | | Development hotspot | Austria | USA | UK (Canonical Ltd) | Germany | China | | Lifecycle | Active development | Maintainance | Active development [9] | Active development | Active development | | File interface | FUSE | FUSE | in-kernel filesystem | WebDAV | FUSE | | Platforms | Linux (OSX planned [7]) | Linux, OSX; third-party Windows port | Linux only | Linux, OSX, Windows | Linux, OSX | | User interface | Command line only | Command line; third-party graphical | Integrated in login process | Graphical only; Command line planned [8] | Command line only | | Lines of Code {1} | 3,442 | 9,320 | 7,662 {2} | 9,921 | 4,704 {3} | References: [[1]](https://github.com/rfjakob/gocryptfs/releases/tag/v0.1) [[2]](https://github.com/vgough/encfs/blob/master/ChangeLog#L1442) [[3]](https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=237fead619984cc48818fe12ee0ceada3f55b012) [[4]](https://github.com/cryptomator/cryptomator/releases/tag/v0.1.0) [[5]](https://github.com/vgough/encfs/blob/master/COPYING) [[6]](https://github.com/cryptomator/cryptomator/tree/master/LICENSES) [[7]](https://github.com/rfjakob/gocryptfs/issues/15) [[8]](https://github.com/cryptomator/cryptomator/issues/43) [[9]](https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/log/fs/ecryptfs) [[10]](https://github.com/netheril96/securefs/releases/tag/v0.10) Notes: {1} All computed using `cloc` {2} Counting only `fs/ecryptfs/` {3} The securefs `source/` directory contains embedded libraries. The count is produced using `cloc btree_dir.h commands.h exceptions.h file_table.h files.h logger.h operations.h streams.h utils.h xattr_compat.h btree_dir.cpp commands.cpp file_table.cpp files.cpp logger.cpp operations.cpp streams.cpp utils.cpp` and contains the files actually comprising securefs as [stated by the author](https://github.com/netheril96/securefs/issues/2#issuecomment-170349572). General Security ---------------- | | gocryptfs | encfs default | encfs paranoia | ecryptfs | cryptomator | securefs | | ----------------------- | --------- | ------------- | -------------- | ------------------------------------ | ----------- | -------- | | Documentation available | Yes [1] | Yes [2] | Yes [2] | No [4] | Yes [3] | Yes [5] | | Password hashing | scrypt | PBKDF2 | PBKDF2 | (none, implemented in external tool) | scrypt | PBKDF2 | References: [[1]](security.md) [[2]](https://github.com/vgough/encfs/blob/master/DESIGN.md) [[3]](https://cryptomator.org/#security) [[4]](http://ecryptfs.org/documentation.html) actually, there is a lot of ecryptfs documentation, but none of it seems to describe the used crypto. [[5]](https://github.com/netheril96/securefs/blob/master/docs/design.md) File Contents ------------- | | gocryptfs | encfs default | encfs paranoia | ecryptfs | cryptomator | securefs | | --------------------- | --------- | ----------------------- | ----------------------- | --------------------- | ---------------------- | -------- | | Encryption | GCM | CBC; last block CFB [1] | CBC; last block CFB [1] | CBC | CTR with random IV [2] | GCM | | Integrity | GCM | none | HMAC | none | HMAC | GCM | | File size obfuscation | no | no | no | yes (4 KB increments) | yes (random padding) | no | References: [[1]](https://github.com/vgough/encfs/issues/9) [[2]](https://github.com/cryptomator/cryptomator/issues/128#issuecomment-168942517) File Names ---------- | | gocryptfs | encfs default | encfs paranoia | ecryptfs | cryptomator | securefs | | ------------------------ | --------------------- | -------------------- | -------------------- | -------- | ----------- | --------------- | | Encryption | EME [4] | CBC | CBC | CBC | SIV | GCM (B+ dir DB) | | Prefix leak | no (EME) | no (HMAC used as IV) | no (HMAC used as IV) | yes [2] | no (SIV) | no (GCM) | | Identical names leak | no (per-directory IV) | no (path chaining) | no (path chaining) | yes [1] | yes [3] | no (GCM) | | Maximum name length [5] | 176 | 176 | 176 | 144 | 1026 | 255 | | Directory flattening {1} | no | no | no | no | yes | yes | References: [[1]](https://gist.github.com/rfjakob/a04364c55b3ee231078d) [[2]](https://gist.github.com/rfjakob/61a17bf3c7eb9932d791) [[3]](https://github.com/cryptomator/cryptomator/issues/128) [[4]](https://github.com/rfjakob/eme) [[5]](https://gist.github.com/rfjakob/c70344e2e7a1d765af1f) Notes: {1} Is the directory tree flattened in the encrypted storage? Performance ----------- All tests are run on tmpfs rule out any influence of the hard disk. The CPU is an Intel Pentium G630 with 2 x 2.7GHz. | | gocryptfs | encfs default | encfs paranoia | ecryptfs | cryptomator | securefs | | ------------------------ | --------- | ------------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------- | -------- | | Streaming write | 84 MiB/s | 104 MiB/s | 56 MiB/s | 130 MiB/s | 55 MiB/s | 60 MiB/s | | Extract linux-3.0.tar.gz | 48 s {4} | 20 s | 23 s | 8.4 s | 468 s {1} {2} | 25 s | | ls -lR linux-3.0 | 1.9 s | 2.8 s | 2.8 s | 0.5 s | 127 s {3} | 4.2 s | | Delete linux-3.0 | 4.5 s | 3.9 s | 4.1 s | 0.5 s | 376 s {3} | 5.3 s | Notes: {1} All file acesses to cryptomator go through the WebDAV protocol, which is less performance-oriented than FUSE. However, an optimized WebDAV client may be able to significantly speed up small-file workloads. {2} Tested with the dave cli WebDAV client, which gave better speed than gvfs (Gnome built-in) and davfs2 {3} Tested with gvfs in the `/run/user/.../gvfs/dav:...` mount {4} Known performance limitation in the go-fuse library. See [gocryptfs ticket#16](https://github.com/rfjakob/gocryptfs/issues/16) for progress on a fix. Disk Space Efficiency --------------------- (all file sizes in bytes) | | gocryptfs | encfs default | encfs paranoia | ecryptfs | cryptomator {1} | securefs {2} | | -------------------- | --------- | ------------- | -------------- | --------- | ------------------------- | ------------ | | Empty file | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,192 | 104 - 4,231 | 112 | | 1 byte file | 51 | 9 | 17 | 12,288 | 104 - 4,231 | 161 | | 1,000,000 bytes file | 1,007,858 | 1,000,008 | 1,007,888 | 1,011,712 | 1,001,096 - 1,101,192 [1] | 1,011,872 | Notes: {1} cryptomator adds a random padding which is why the resulting size is non-deterministic. {2} securefs stores data and crypto metadata (nonces + GHASH) in separate files. The sum of both is shown here. References: [[1]](https://github.com/cryptomator/cryptomator/issues/128#issuecomment-169056079)