Electronic Harassment

Advanced Electronic Security Co. performs Electronic Sweeping and Surveys, using the best possible Technical Surveillance Counter Measures (TSCM), to determine if you're being electronically harassed. We then proscribe the proper course of action to eliminate the electronic harassment threat.

What is Electronic Harassment?

If someone uses any electronic device to aid them in invading your person or property for the purpose of gathering information illegally, or for the purpose of causing harm, this is Electronic Harassment.

Electronic Harassment comes in many forms and types. We'll try to explain what they are and what to do about them below.

• Electronic Surveillance
  Electronic Surveillance is the imposed observation of a person's belongings, person or surroundings through the use of electronic listening devices, video recording or transmitting devices, spectral imaging through heat or infrared, sound or other radiation sources, and any other means of observing a person's actions, possessions or routines. Not all forms of surveillance use electronic devices and not all forms of surveillance are illegal or considered harassment. Simply observing someone using ones eyes is certainly also considered surveillance and is not illegal in and of itself. Surveillance has become quite advanced and will become more pervasive as our society progresses in technology. Micro recorders, covert hidden video cameras (such as pinhole cameras), ultra tiny microphones, micro transmitters, and other bugging devices are easy to get by anyone at spy novelty shops and online stores. For more on this subject, see Eavesdropping Threats for covert hidden camera pictures with additional information, and Electronic Surveillance page.
• Electronic Sabotage/Interference (Jamming)
  Electronic sabotage or interference is any sabotage that is intentionally configuring personal property to either be destroyed or malfunction. Any intentional interference such as electronic noise generators, sound generators, light generators, spark gap disrupters, or any other form of EMI (electromagnetic interference) which either destroys, disrupts, causes malfunction or loss of resources is deemed to be electronic harassment.
• Directed Harmful High Energy Devices
  This is the most dangerous form of electronic harassment and is quite easy to implement against a person. Directed harmful high energy microwave devices and weapons can include such devices and equipment that are easily available almost anywhere in the World where there are people. Microwave ovens can be modified to focus and direct up to 1200 watts or more, depending on the model, of microwave energy at a person or property and are easy to produce. The results of an attack by a high energy device can be lethal, they can kill or at the least disable a human being or other animals. Attacks from high energy microwave weapons leave blisters, cause internal bruising and/or bleeding, stimulate cancer, cause cataracts, encourage tumors to grow, generate boils, or leave red patches on the skin. Directed Harmful High Energy Weapons will have effective ranges from the point of contact to several hundred yards. Directed Harmful High Energy Weapons can be used to destroy electronic devices and cause severe interference in computers and alarm systems which can allow forced entry or destruction of vital data. Radar guns are available from surplus stores most anywhere and can be obtained from ex-military sources or even police departments. Radar gun power outputs range from a two or three watts to 3 Megawatts! Portable radar guns range in size from small hand held devices to vehicle mounted long range high power models. These devices have very long ranges due to their greater power, higher frequencies and shorter wavelength. Radar guns emit long or short pulses of high energy capable of causing instant damage or death to living creatures. Semiconductor destruction or malfunction, brain damage & stopping vehicles are other uses for these devices. Other forms of directed harmful high energy include devices such as tasers, klystron guns (radar guns), ion beam guns, plasma pulse guns, soliton bombs, and many more devices.
  
  
  Directional Microwave EMP Rifle (PARTIAL KIT) Partial kit (shown above). This partial kit will include a 50,000W (yes it says 50KW) Watt X-band military microwave magnetron with complete spec sheets from two manufacturers and operational information to make it work (about 30 pages), EMP rifle plans (over 49 pages), and qty:3 (12KV @ 1A) rectifiers. A device such as this can be made the size of a super soaker water gun, it operates at 9.2GHz and with a properly tuned horn antenna will have an effective range of over 300 yards (possibly more with larger antenna). Such a device could possibly cause semiconductors to burn out, microprocessors to malfunction, inductors to counter induce and create CEMF, induce RF noise, cause ionization of air or gases, cause junction rectification and erase computer data on hard drives, disk and solid state device. Operating such a device may be in violation of State or Federal Laws, consult your Local authority before operating such a device. UPS GROUND SHIPPING ONLY DUE TO INTENSE MAGNETIC FIELD FROM MAGNETRON. Do not purchase this kit if it is illegal to own or operate in your area. (This kit is real and available on the internet. The above photo and description was taken directly from an internet website, but we will not tell you where to find it!)
  
  
  
  
  Directed energy weapon for "Active Denial" is now being deployed by the military.
• Voice/Data/Image induction
  This form of electronic harassment causes an individual to think they are loosing their mind or that they have a mental illness. There are 3 known methods of imposing VDI induction.
• Microwave Carrier ULF-UHF Induction Method. This method utilizes a modulated microwave signal with either an audio, video, or other form of signal or even data may be used. The microwave energy with the VDI (Voice/Data/Image) carrier signal is then directed to the target area or individual. The reaction to this modulated microwave energy from one individual to another will usually be slightly different making it very difficult to diagnose as electronic harassment. The Voice/Data/Image induction form of harassment causes victims to hear voices in their heads or see random images or lights. Similar technology was developed to enable communication between humans and dolphins or even was purported to be used by secret agencies for the purposes of mind reading and control. A device known as the wireless neurophone has been patented along with other such devices that perform similar functions. A microwave carrier ULF-UHF induction device can be placed at a targets location and operated and monitored remotely. Transmission locations can be concealed in the same ways that cell telephone transmission sites so that they cannot be identified easily. See Stealth for some examples of the way cell antennas can be hidden in plain sight.
• Direct Contact Induction Method. This method requires direct skin contact of the subject. Voice/Data/Image induction (VDI) is induced through the skin, using the natural ability of the skin to conduct energy. The DCI method uses a simple high voltage D.C. carrier, which is modulated with the VDI signal and is coupled to the subject body using capacitive skin pads. The contacts need to contact any part of the skin anywhere on the body. The signal is received and interpreted by the nerves below the skin surface and sent to the brain which processes the information signals, causing the images or sounds or data to appear to the target without the actual use of their eyes or ears. A similar device is also known as the neurophone. There are many patents for similar devices. Evidence of unauthorized use on someone is two or more circular red marks on the skin or two or more blisters.
• Magnetic Pulse Induction Method. The neurons within the nerves and human brain are very sensitive to magnetic fields. The MPI method uses an induction coil to induce a low to medium magnetic field in and around the brain causing the neurons to misroute, slow down or revert. This form of electronic VDI harassment is often diagnosed as EMI (electromagnetic interference) sensitivity, which is similar to someone getting headaches from prolonged usage of cellular phones or nausea from being around power lines for extended periods of time. Magnetic Pulse Induction Method may be employed by using a device implanted within the targets home or surroundings and can be operated remotely.
  
• Radiation
  Radiation is a very common form of harassment. A potential harasser can easily buy an old x-ray gun from a surplus dealer and with only slight modifications use it to bombard a target with deadly amounts of x-ray radiation. Radiation devices can be battery powered and used for long periods of time. High exposure to x-ray radiation will cause tumors, brain disorders, mental illness, tremors, headaches, cataracts, seizures or even death. Radiation harassment is usually done over long periods of time, ranging from days to years, in order to induce harm. Radiation harassers can also get various radioactive materials such as thorium nitrate, plutonium oxide, uranium nitrate, and uranyl nitrite. Using radioactive materials a harasser can cause a terrible and agonizing death.
• Implants
  Implants are without a doubt the most invasive form of harassment. Electronic implants consist of transmitters, ESF generators, micro-neurophonic transceivers, tracking devices and other micro sized devices designed to cause harassment by tracking or controlling movement and thought. The most common implant was designed many years ago and is still used to this day. It consists of a unit that is powered by bodily fluids and is capable of transmitting voice signals, high voltage pulses, emitting a small tracking beacon signal, or other unspecified uses (mind control).
  
    
    
  
  

  Newest version of a biochip implant. For more information about this chip go to http://www.nasatech.com/Briefs//May99/ARC14280.html

  
  
  Millions may be carrying microchips in their bodies worldwide. The Safe Medical Devices Act, which became a law in 1990, requires USA manufacturers of implants and medical devices, to adopt a method for identifying and tracking their products permanently implanted in humans, and to keep track of the recipients, in case malfunctions arise. Breast implants, pacemakers, replacement heart valves and prosthetic devices implanted in millions worldwide are all to be tracked. And one of the methods used to track these devices is implanting microchips which store data about the manufacturer, the surgeon, the date of implant, etc.
  
• Laser Harassment Devices
  
  The use of simple, easy to procure lasers to harass or "Dazzle" a subject is becoming more prevalent. Subjects of this type of harassment have reported seeing "little red dots" on their curtains, through their windows or on themselves. There have been numerous reports of people being momentarily blinded by red lights (red lasers) while they were driving in their cars. Some of these incidents have resulted in traffic accidents, although no permanent blindness has yet to be reported as a result of being "spotted".
  
  
  
  Laser gun sight, zoom rifle scope, 3-axis adjustable tripod head
  The parts that make this device can be purchased at any gun store
  and the tripod is a standard issue camera tripod.
  
  
  Hand-held unit with laser gun sight and golf scope

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United States Patent 5,629,678
Gargano , et al. May 13, 1997

Personal tracking and recovery system

Abstract
Apparatus for tracking and recovering humans utilizes an implantable transceiver incorporating a power supply and actuation system allowing the unit to remain implanted and functional for years without maintenance. The implanted transmitter may be remotely actuated, or actuated by the implantee. Power for the remote-activated receiver is generated electromechanically through the movement of body muscle. The device is small enough to be implanted in a child, facilitating use as a safeguard against kidnapping, and has a transmission range which also makes it suitable for wilderness sporting activities. A novel biological monitoring feature allows the device to be used to facilitate prompt medical dispatch in the event of heart attack or similar medical emergency. A novel sensation-feedback feature allows the implantee to control and actuate the device with certainty.
Read The Complete Patent Information

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This is one of 66 low-earth orbiting (LEO) satellites comprising the Iridium satellite system. The original company went bankrupt so the US Department of Defense assisted in making sure the system stayed in operation. The system is currently maintained by the Boeing Company.

This is a diagram of the planetary coverage of the Iridum system. This system has transmit and receive coverage of the entire planet. Each circle is a coverage sector.

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Of course there are many other forms of electronic harassment not mentioned here, but the most common forms of electronic harassment that you may likely encounter have been covered. Please read Microwave Detection - Remote Mind Control Technology for more on this subject.

Symptoms of Electronic Radiation Exposure

Symptoms may include but are not limited to: Headache, eye irritation, dizziness, nausea, skin rash, facial swelling, weakness, fatigue, pain in joints and/or muscles, buzzing/ringing in ears, skin numbness, abdominal pressure and pain, breathing difficulty, irregular heartbeat, sexual stimulation and hearing voices (see Patent #4,858,612). Additional symptoms have been reported in some individuals such as paralysis, balance problems, body and/or muscle spasms, convulsions, confusion,depression, difficulty in concentrating, seizure, sleep disturbances, and memory difficulties.

What Can Be Done To Protect Against Electronic Harassment?

In a legal sense, there isn't too much that can be done. You could change your venue, relocate or move to avoid the harasser but this isn't usually a practical method for a variety of reasons.
For starters, the best thing to do is give us a call from a secure phone. We will conduct a sweep of the suspect areas to locate the source of the suspected harassment and then assist in a course of action to stop the harassment.
Natural obstacles are cheap and effective in blocking most X-rays and microwave or RF (could be a radar gun) signals that a harasser might use. Mountains, caves, desert areas, and large lakes or oceans offer excellent protection and can block or distort most forms of electronic harassment.
Shielding signals with Passive or Active shielding can be an effective measure.
If harassment is general to an area and not specifically directed to you, simply moving to another location is the easiest method to stop the harassment. If the harassment is specific to you, then you'll need to employ some sort of shield or cover, such as mountains or a cave. Shielding may be your only alternative to stop the harassment if you cannot employ natural obstacles or shields. Passive shielding is less expensive then Active shielding and consists of special metal materials designed to block high frequency RF energy, X-rays, etc. Active shielding uses sophisticated electronic equipment to jam, capture, redirect, distort or nullify the harmful energy.

It isn't legal for a private individual, a company or a corporation to use electronic harassment on you. The military and law enforcement, however, can use non-lethal weapons (see USC Title 50 Chapter 32 Section 1520a).
Further, testing of electronic equipment; discovering unauthorized electronic surveillance; training of intelligence personnel by officers the United States is allowed.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/50/1805.html
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, officers, employees, or agents of the United States are authorized in the normal course of their official duties to conduct electronic surveillance not targeted against the communications of any particular person or persons, under procedures approved by the Attorney General.

10 Tools to Protect Computer from Infected USB Flash Drives

We use it on regular basis; it conveniently helps us to transfer files from desktop to/from laptops or even share its content with our peers. It makes life easier. But wait, have you overlooked its threat to our computer?

If the USB flash drive is infected with virus, not only you may lose the data in the storage, you are also affecting the security of every computer once it’s plugged in. The following post features a list of 10 tools to protect your computer against any infected USD flash drives.

Prevention is better than cure, and it’s never too old for that saying. Full list after jump.

Note: It’s strongly not recommended to install multiple tools in the same computer for various critical reasons, just try and get what really suits your needs!

USB Disk Security

USB Disk Security provides protection against any malicious program trying to attack via USB flash drive. It delivers high level of protection against theft and accidental disclosure of confidential data, and prevents unauthorized person from stealing your data.

USB Threat Defender

USB Threat Defender is not just another autorun.inf virus remover, it takes more than that to provide maximum protection guarantee. Its new protection level detects viruses missed by the best antivirus software, and provides maximum protection against any threat that tries to attack a system via any USB storage device.

McAfee VirusScan USB

Proven antivirus security for your USB drive. Automated, daily antivirus updates install silently in the background, ensuring your USB drive is always protected from evolving and emerging virus threats. The software does not provide trial version, but considered it’s the famous brand McAfee, it’s probably worth your consideration! And did I mention 30-day money back guarantee?

USB immunizer

The Immunize option allows you to immunize your USB storage device or SD card against infections with autorun-based malware. Even if your storage device has been plugged into an infected computer, the malware will be unable to create its autorun.inf file, thus annihilating any chance of auto-launching itself.

Panda USB Vaccine

Panda USB Vaccine can be used on individual USB flash drives to disable its autorun.inf file in order to prevent malware infections. When applied on a USB drive, the vaccine permanently blocks the malicious autorun.inf file, preventing it from being read, created, deleted or modified.

Ninja Pendisk

Ninja is the popular and free program designed for guarding computers against viruses transmitted by USB pendisks. This ninja waits quietly in the system tray until an USB pendisk is plugged into the computer, which it will be examined to uncover the commonly malicious or virulent files known as autorun.inf and ctfmon.exe amongst many others.

USB Guardian

USB Guardian allows you to safely enjoy file sharing with USB thumb drive. Movies, MP3s, documents and pictures can be copied from one computer to another without worrying of getting infected by worms and viruses trough USB drive.

Autorun Protector

Autorun Protector is a two-way protection standalone software that prevents your PC from infection by autorun worms and also protects your removable device from being infected from other sources. Hence, it decreases the spread of the virulent worms.

Autorun Virus Remover

Autorun Virus Remover uses proactive technology to permanently remove autorun & autorun.inf viruses, also it can block those viruses trying to infect the system via USB flash drives.

The USB Program

The USB Program is designed to help prevent computers being infected by autorun viruses. The program is loaded into system memory, and technically it automatically renames autorun.inf files on new device into autorun.inf_current date_time, and sets its attribute to “normal”, making it visible for the system. As a result, it isolates any infection.

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How To Write A Simple Batch (.bat) File

Batch files are the computer handyman’s way of getting things done. They can automate everyday tasks, shorten the required time to do something, and translate a complex process into something anyone could operate.

Since automation programs like AutoHotKey exist, many people have never written or taken the time to understand bat files, and many don’t even know what they do.

In this article, I’m going to show you how to write a simple batch file and present some basics that a user will need to understand when writing one. I’ll also provide you with a few resources for learning to write batch (.bat) files in case you’d like to go further.

Let’s say that you frequently have network issues; you’re constantly getting on the command prompt and typing in things like “ipconfig” and pinging Google to see what the problem is. After a while you realize that it would be a bit more efficient if you just wrote a simple BAT file, stuck it on your USB stick, and used it on the machines you troubleshoot.

Step 1: Create A BAT File

Create a new text document on your desktop. Double click the file – it should be blank inside. Now, go to file>save as, and in the “Save As” window, input a name for your BAT file and then add a “.bat” on the end (without the quotes). My file was named testBAT.bat, for instance.

Before hitting save we need make sure that Windows doesn’t stick the standard “.txt” ending on the end of our new file. To do this, change the filetype from “.txt” to “all files” as shown in the screenshot below. That’s it – hit save and close the file.

Step 2: Learn Some Quick Code

If you know how to run commands in the command prompt, you’ll be a wiz at creating BAT files because it’s the same language. All you’re doing is telling the command prompt what you want to put in through a file, rather than typing it every time you run the command prompt. This saves you time and effort; but it also allows you to put in some logic (like simple loops, conditional statements, etc. that procedural programming is capable of conceptually).

There are SEVEN simple commands I want to familiarize you with for this program. Commands are NOT case sensitive, so don’t worry about that.

TITLE - The Window name for the BAT file.

ECHO - the “print” statement for BAT files. Anything following the word ECHO will be displayed in the command prompt as text, on its own line.

ECHO OFF – BAT writers typically put this at the beginning of their files. It means that the program won’t show the command that you told it to run while it’s running – it’ll just run the command. I’d recommend that after you run this test program, you try removing this line from your code to see what happens.

PAUSE - This outputs the “press any key to continue…” message that you’ve seen all too many times. It’s helpful because it pauses the BAT file execution until the user tells it to go again. If you don’t put this in your program, everything will speed by and end before you can see it. People typically put this in BAT files to give the user a chance to review the material on the screen before continuing.

CLS - Clears the DOS window (helpful if things get too cluttered!).

IPCONFIG – Outputs a lot of network information into your DOS box (network admins have dreams solely based off this command).

PING - Pings an IP, letting you know if your computer was able to contact it. This command also returns the latency (ping time) and by default pings three times.

Step 3: Do Some Quick Logic

We need to plan our program out. Any good programmer will think about the general framework of their program before they dash into things – it prevents them from making logic mistakes that are hard to back out of.

For this program, we want to check the computer’s network/internet settings with an “ipconfig /all” command, and then review that information by giving the user time to read everything. Afterwards, we want to ping google.com to figure out if we really truly have access to the internet. We’ll pause the program after this as well, because we want to know for sure that they saw it.  OK. Very simple program, very simple logic. Let’s write some code.

Step 4: Write Your BAT File

Right click your BAT file and click “edit” to bring up Notepad. The whole document should be blank – ready for some epic programmer input.

Rather than walking you line by line through the code (it’s extremely short) I’m going to use a code comment (example–   CODE  ::Comment) to let you know what we just did.I’m putting the actual code in bold to make things a bit easier to process.

———–Start Code———–

ECHO OFF
::CMD will no longer show us what command it’s executing(cleaner)
ECHO As a network admin, I’m getting tired of having to type these commands in! Hopefully, this saves me some time in the long run.
:: Print some text
IPCONFIG /ALL
:: Outputs tons of network information into the command prompt
PAUSE
:: Lets the user read the important network information
PING www.google.com
:: Ping google to figure out if we’ve got internet!
ECHO All done pinging Google.
::Print some text
PAUSE
:: Give the user some time to see the results. Because this is our last line, the program will exit and the command window will close once this line finishes.

———–End Code———–

Step 5: Run Your BAT File

Save the file you just coded (or copy/paste mine in, it will run as written), and double click it. Your output should be something like the screenshot below.

Congratulations! You’ve written a batch file successfully.

If you want to learn more about bat files, I’d recommend you check out the commands available to the language. From there, your best bet is to write your own, or follow more examples online. Feel free to comment here if you have a BAT-related question.

The most useful BAT I’ve made so far is one that allowed me to compile and run Java programs with a single command, saving me countless amounts of command typing in the long run (because I compile/run so often when programming). I’ve also made one that sets file associations up the way I want them when I plug in my flash drive to a PC – this makes it possible for my portable apps to be the default app right from the get-go with a new computer.

Have you written anything cool with BAT files before?

More on this topic: programming

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Best & Guaranteed Technique To unlock Powerpoint and Excel files

 Unlock a VBA password protected Excel file

Ever felt the need to open a VBA protected excel file... maybe one of your old files that contained an excellent routine! How do you come out of that pain?

Important: This article is for educational purposes. Try this method for opening ONLY your own files, as I did too!

So how does Excel store the file contents - cell data including formulas and formats, conditional formatting, VBA code, etc. etc. Lets investigate. Create a new Excel file MyTest.xlsm and enter some dummy test data in the first sheet. Add some formulas and conditional formatting (if you want to really understand the details).

Let us now see how excel stores this data in the file. Open the file in notepad or a hex editor. Did you notice the first 2 characters? "PK". So Excel compresses its file contents. Now we know why there is not much difference if you compress an Office 2007 file.

Lets look into the compressed contents. Rename the file extension from .xlsm to .zip

Open the MyFile.zip file. Wow! its an extensive structure with xml files to store the workbook, worksheets, calculations, sharedstrings, etc.

This is how the XML of the Sheet1 looks

Lets explore more. Lets go back to our original file and add some VBA code to it.

Add a password and protect the VBA code.

Save the file and redo the same steps as earlier to open the xml file structure. We now have another XML file called vbaProject.bin. This is the file that I need to recover. Lets investigate further. Open this file in a Hex Editor (there are lots of free ones out there... the one I use is Hex Editor Neo at http://www.hhdsoftware.com/Products/home/hex-editor-free.html).

Search for the keyword "DPB" in the content. Remember to find it just above "[Host Extender Info]".

Once found, replace the string "DPB" to "DBx" and save the file. Now replace the edited "vbaProject.bin" file and place it back into the compressed file collection (replace with the old one). Rename the compressed file back to ".xlsm".

Try to open the file in Excel. It gives an error saying that the file contains an invalid key DBx. Hit Yes and proceed. The file opens. So far good. Now go to the VBA editor.

Next it gives another error "Unexpected Error". Proceed again by hittng OK

VBA Editor opens. Now try to open the module code. Again the "Unexpected Error". Dont lose heart... we are just there. Save the file and close it. We are all set. Your file is as good as new without the VBA password. Go check for yourself!

So Excel may NOT be encrypting the VBA file after all, rather it is only setting a flag to lock the VBA content. This is evident because we can still see the code in the vbaProject.bin file (that we had written in the VBA earlier).

Some more interesting bits. Check how Excel stores its file contents. Look into the file sharedStrings.xml. It stores the strings at a global level, not in the sheet itself. Also look into how it stores the formulas and formatting. Try out things like like dragging a cell content (like Area 1) into 5 cells (producing Area 1, Area 2, Area 3...) and see how it stores the values... using ranges.

That also says that, it may be better to access Excel data directly from these XML files rather than through the Excel application model. We could have much more control and simplified logic for storing (for instance in database), transporting (eg client machine to server), opening and displaying simple content. Many possibilities here...

Well, I was pretty pleased that today I learned something new... and an unlocked VBA code.

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 And now unlock your protected Powerpoint Slideshow file

The previous post on how to unlock (your own) VBA password protected Excel file with simple tools. More importantly understand how Microsoft organizes its files on the disk. Here is one for a Microsoft Powerpoint Slide show file - recover an editable copy of a protected ppsx file (or similarly a protected pptx file).

Just as we did with the Excel files, lets investigate how Powerpoint stores it file contents on the disk. Create a new Powerpoint Slideshow file MyTest.pptx and enter some dummy content. Choose to file as [ppsx]. Let us now protect it by hitting the [General Options] (from [Tools] in the [Save Dialog]). Set a very complex password. We are safe now. The Slideshow file can be distributed without the contents being stolen.

Going by our earlier experience, we rename our file from [MyTest.ppsx] to [MyTest.zip]

Open the Zip file now.

Not going into details, let us open the folder [ppt]

Drag out the file [presentation.xml] into a folder. We can now view the contents and edit it.
Lets look into this file. Amoung other things we notice that a new node has been added into the xml (as compared to a unprotected file).

hmm...

Seems like the salt and hash of the password we had set. What the heck! Lets delete the node altogether.

Save the file and replace it in the zip file (drag and drop it into the open zip file collection).

Save and close your Zip file. Rename it back to [MyTest.ppsx]. Right click the file and select [New] to open the file in good'ol Powerpoint.

There it goes again. We have an unprotected copy of the Slidehow file that we had created earlier.
Enjoy!! 

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Encryption , Hash Algorithms

Encryption Algorithms

 AES

The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) specifies a FIPS-approved cryptographic algorithm (Rijndael, designed by Joan Daemen and Vincent Rijmen, published in 1998) that may be used by US federal departments and agencies to cryptographically protect sensitive information [3]. TrueCrypt uses AES with 14 rounds and a 256-bit key (i.e., AES-256, published in 2001) operating in XTS mode .

In June 2003, after the NSA (US National Security Agency) conducted a review and analysis of AES, the U.S. CNSS (Committee on National Security Systems) announced in [1] that the design and strength of AES-256 (and AES-192) are sufficient to protect classified information up to the Top Secret level. This is applicable to all U.S. Government Departments or Agencies that are considering the acquisition or use of products incorporating the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to satisfy Information Assurance requirements associated with the protection of national security systems and/or national security information [1].

Serpent

Designed by Ross Anderson, Eli Biham, and Lars Knudsen; published in 1998. It uses a 256-bit key, 128-bit block, and operates in XTS mode . Serpent was one of the AES finalists. It was not selected as the proposed AES algorithm even though it appeared to have a higher security margin than the winning Rijndael [4]. More concretely, Serpent appeared to have a high security margin, while Rijndael appeared to have only an adequate security margin [4]. Rijndael has also received some criticism suggesting that its mathematical structure might lead to attacks in the future [4].

In [5], the Twofish team presents a table of safety factors for the AES finalists. Safety factor is defined as: number of rounds of the full cipher divided by the largest number of rounds that has been broken. Hence, a broken cipher has the lowest safety factor 1. Serpent had the highest safety factor of the AES finalists: 3.56 (for all supported key sizes). Rijndael-256 had a safety factor of 1.56.

In spite of these facts, Rijndael was considered an appropriate selection for the AES for its combination of security, performance, efficiency, implementability, and flexibility [4]. At the last AES Candidate Conference, Rijndael got 86 votes, Serpent got 59 votes, Twofish 31 got votes, RC6 got 23 votes, and MARS got 13 votes [18, 19].*

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* These are positive votes. If negative votes are subtracted from the positive votes, the following results are obtained: Rijndael: 76 votes, Serpent: 52 votes, Twofish: 10 votes, RC6: -14 votes, MARS: -70 votes [19].

Twofish

Designed by Bruce Schneier, John Kelsey, Doug Whiting, David Wagner, Chris Hall, and Niels Ferguson; published in 1998. It uses a 256-bit key and 128-bit block and operates in XTS mode. Twofish was one of the AES finalists. This cipher uses key-dependent S-boxes. Twofish may be viewed as a collection of 2¹²⁸ different cryptosystems, where 128 bits derived from a 256-bit key control the selection of the cryptosystem [4]. In [13], the Twofish team asserts that key-dependent S-boxes constitute a form of security margin against unknown attacks [4].

Cascades

AES-Twofish

Two ciphers in a cascade [15, 16] operating in XTS mode (see the section Modes of Operation). Each 128-bit block is first encrypted with Twofish (256-bit key) in XTS mode and then with AES (256-bit key) in XTS mode. Each of the cascaded ciphers uses its own key. All encryption keys are mutually independent (note that header keys are independent too, even though they are derived from a single password – see Header Key Derivation, Salt, and Iteration Count). See above for information on the individual cascaded ciphers.

AES-Twofish-Serpent

Three ciphers in a cascade [15, 16] operating in XTS mode (see the section Modes of Operation). Each 128-bit block is first encrypted with Serpent (256-bit key) in XTS mode, then with Twofish (256-bit key) in XTS mode, and finally with AES (256-bit key) in XTS mode. Each of the cascaded ciphers uses its own key. All encryption keys are mutually independent (note that header keys are independent too, even though they are derived from a single password – see the section Header Key Derivation, Salt, and Iteration Count). See above for information on the individual cascaded ciphers.

Serpent-AES

Two ciphers in a cascade [15, 16] operating in XTS mode (see the section Modes of Operation). Each 128-bit block is first encrypted with AES (256-bit key) in XTS mode and then with Serpent (256-bit key) in XTS mode. Each of the cascaded ciphers uses its own key. All encryption keys are mutually independent (note that header keys are independent too, even though they are derived from a single password – see the section Header Key Derivation, Salt, and Iteration Count). See above for information on the individual cascaded ciphers.

Serpent-Twofish-AES

Three ciphers in a cascade [15, 16] operating in XTS mode (see the section Modes of Operation). Each 128-bit block is first encrypted with AES (256-bit key) in XTS mode, then with Twofish (256-bit key) in XTS mode, and finally with Serpent (256-bit key) in XTS mode. Each of the cascaded ciphers uses its own key. All encryption keys are mutually independent (note that header keys are independent too, even though they are derived from a single password – see the section Header Key Derivation, Salt, and Iteration Count). See above for information on the individual cascaded ciphers.

Twofish-Serpent

Two ciphers in a cascade [15, 16] operating in XTS mode (see the section Modes of Operation). Each 128-bit block is first encrypted with Serpent (256-bit key) in XTS mode and then with Twofish (256-bit key) in XTS mode. Each of the cascaded ciphers uses its own key. All encryption keys are mutually independent (note that header keys are independent too, even though they are derived from a single password – see the section Header Key Derivation, Salt, and Iteration Count). See above for information on the individual cascaded ciphers.

Modes of Operation

The mode of operation used by TrueCrypt for encrypted partitions, drives, and virtual volumes is XTS.

XTS mode is in fact XEX mode [12], which was designed by Phillip Rogaway in 2003, with a minor modification (XEX mode uses a single key for two different purposes, whereas XTS mode uses two independent keys).

In 2010, XTS mode was approved by NIST for protecting the confidentiality of data on storage devices [24]. In 2007, it was also approved by the IEEE for cryptographic protection of data on block-oriented storage devices (IEEE 1619).

Description of XTS mode:

C_i = E_K1(P_i ^ (E_K2(n)  aⁱ)) ^ (E_K2(n)  aⁱ)

Where:

	denotes multiplication of two polynomials over the binary field GF(2) modulo x128+x7+x2+x+1
K1	is the encryption key (256-bit for each supported cipher; i.e, AES, Serpent, and Twofish)
K2	is the secondary key (256-bit for each supported cipher; i.e, AES, Serpent, and Twofish)
i	is the cipher block index within a data unit;   for the first cipher block within a data unit, i = 0
n	is the data unit index within the scope of K1;   for the first data unit, n = 0
a	is a primitive element of Galois Field (2128) that corresponds to polynomial x (i.e., 2)
Note: The remaining symbols are defined in the section Notation.

The size of each data unit is always 512 bytes (regardless of the sector size).

For further information pertaining to XTS mode, see e.g. [12] and [24].

Summary

Encryption could be using the following algorithms:

Hash Algorithms

A user-selected hash algorithm use Random Number Generator as a pseudorandom "mixing" function, and by the header key derivation function (HMAC based on a hash function, as specified in PKCS #5 v2.0) as a pseudorandom function. When creating a new volume, the Random Number Generator generates the master key, secondary key (XTS mode), and salt.

Examples for hash algorithms:

• RIPEMD-160 RIPEMD-160, published in 1996, is a hash algorithm designed by Hans Dobbertin, Antoon Bosselaers, and Bart Preneel in an open academic community. The size of the output of RIPEMD-160 is 160 bits. RIPEMD-160 is a strengthened version of the RIPEMD hash algorithm that was developed in the framework of the European Union's project RIPE (RACE Integrity Primitives Evaluation), 1988-1992. RIPEMD-160 was adopted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the IEC in the ISO/IEC 10118-3:2004 international standard [21].
• SHA-512
  SHA-512 is a hash algorithm designed by the NSA and published by NIST in FIPS PUB 180-2 [14] in 2002 (the first draft was published in 2001). The size of the output of this algorithm is 512 bits.
• WhirlpoolThe Whirlpool hash algorithm was designed by Vincent Rijmen (co-designer of the AES encryption algorithm) and Paulo S. L. M. Barreto. The size of the output of this algorithm is 512 bits. The first version of Whirlpool, now called Whirlpool-0, was published in November 2000. The second version, now called Whirlpool-T, was selected for the NESSIE (New European Schemes for Signatures, Integrity and Encryption) portfolio of cryptographic primitives (a project organized by the European Union, similar to the AES competition). TrueCrypt uses the third (final) version of Whirlpool, which was adopted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the IEC in the ISO/IEC 10118-3:2004 international standard [21].

source:truecrypt