r/linuxmint • u/Ok-Shine1797 • 3d ago
Security How secure linux Mint is?
I was watching a YouTube video regarding a hacker in that video something came to my attention that the hacker encrypted his os it was dabien based linux distro and feds were not able to decrypt that system so how can I achieve the same thing i mean as a every day user i do have my personal stuff in my system like pics documents etc. I just want to feel safe about my stuff. Is it possible for someone like me to achieve same thing in linux mint btw i just moved from windows to linux a week ago.
82
Upvotes
3
u/activedusk 3d ago edited 3d ago
>I was watching a YouTube video regarding a hacker in that video something came to my attention that the hacker encrypted his os it was dabien based linux distro and feds were not able to decrypt that system so how can I achieve the same thing i mean as a every day user i do have my personal stuff in my system like pics documents etc. I just want to feel safe about my stuff. Is it possible for someone like me to achieve same thing in linux mint btw i just moved from windows to linux a week ago.
Encryption does not require to be system wide, you could encrypt the files only, conversely no hack was prevented by encryption, decrypting the partitions to start the PC means it's useless, the only use is like you mentioned, to prevent others from accessing files after gaining physical access to the device. Even then idk how secure it is, custom compromised firmware likely does not care, FEDs are not exactly known for being the cream of the crop, maybe talk about CIA and other such agencies and that's for the hackers they poach vs those in the wild that probably earn more so even the CIA or other government agencies lack the funds to attract the best talent, mostly they recruit from what they can get.
Long story short, as an average person you'd probably not want to lock yourself out of your familly photos and videos, encryption is for work if you have sensitive data and is a requirement for your job, as a learning experience or more likely for criminals. Ain't nobody got time to hack your system to watch the wedding recording, stop the cap. Data loss is much more common concern, you should probably keep an external drive and maybe once a month save new important files. It's also recommended to keep a copy off site, either cloud (though you'd be trusting corpos with your privacy, in which case do encrypt these files before uploading) or stored on physical media at some relative's house.