this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2026
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How does Veracrypt work? (lemmy.ca)
submitted 3 days ago by starlight@lemmy.ca to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
9 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I understand that if you use Veracrypt on a USB drive, unless you know the password or passphrase, you cannot access the contents of the drive. The part that is throwing me off is, do you need to have Veracrypt installed on a computer to unlock the drive? Otherwsie, you cannot access it, correct? I ask because if I wanted to access the drive on a computer that does not have Veracrypt installed, it won't work, right? If that all wrong, please kindly explain to me how it works.

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[–] RamRabbit@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

Yes, you will need Veracrypt available on the computer in order to access the drive. However, you don't need Veracrypt installed. There is a portable version available for both Linux and Windows.

If you have Veracrypt available on all machines in question, you can keep it simple and have the whole drive encrypted.

However, you can also bring the portable versions with you on the same drive: Make a normal (unencrypted) partition the size of the whole drive. (ex-FAT if you want it to work on both Linux and Windows) Then have the portable verion(s) of the program on it as well as a Veracrypt encrypted container file. The encrypted container will be a big, unreadable file on the drive that will require your password to unlock and use. Then store the rest of everything inside the encrypted container.

[–] Oberyn@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Tried using veracrypt portable to access my files on library computer 1ce , couldn't bcus still needed admin permissions (brought up dialogue window telling me contact library staff oar some thing)

Not sure wat's up with that , sorta defeats point of portable app if Can't use it on device that's not mine

[–] starlight@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Oh, I didn't know Veracrypt was portable?! Since Veracrypt is portable, that means I can store the Veracrypt software and encrypt whatever files I want on the same drive, correct? Then, it wouldn't matter if Veracrypt isn't installed on the computer and I can encrypt/decrypt the, right? I apologize in advance, I just want to make sure I fully understand what you said.

[–] RamRabbit@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yep!

[–] starlight@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

Ok, thank you!

[–] groet@feddit.org 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

This is a reasonable way to do it HOWEVER this only protects you against data loss in case of a lost USB stick. If attackers get access to the stick and place it back into your possession afterwards, they can manipulate the portable veracryp so you will run their malware to decrypt the data. The malicious veracryp could then either save the password you entered (hidden somewhere on the USB for the attacker after they steal the stick again) or just upload the whole decrypted data to an attacker server.

If you use the portable veracryp you need to make sure it has not been tampered with.

Well actually decrypting the data on any device you do not trust is risky for the same reason. If veracryp is installed on a machine you still have to trust the person that owns that machine to not have manipulated it or to not have been a victim of malware themselves.

TL:DR decrypting the data on any device you don't control yourself is risky and optimally you could install veracrypt on any device you control.

[–] gary_host_laptop@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

this is a very specialized attack, your threat model needs to be way higher than the average joe for someone to do such a precision strike on this, all keeping in mind that you lose your stick.

[–] groet@feddit.org 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Why does OP have a stick with encrypted data if they do not care about its security?

Yes, maybe its just the porn collection that they don't want others to see, but maybe its actually important stuff.

I think it is important to inform people about the ways their security can be circumvented and if somebody gives security advice its important to inform people if that advice contains flaws.

OP should know about the potential risks and then decide themselves if that is acceptable to them.

And when talking about encryption, people often forget, that the best way to break it is to never attack the encryption, but attack the way people interact with the unencrypted data.

OP should know about the dangers of decrypting their USB with software that could be manipulated.

Is all that overkill in 95% of cases? Probably? Do we know OP isn't in the 5% where it matters? No.

Maybe they want to hide something from someone in their household who has frequent access to the USB stick. Maybe they are a journalist that might get searched by police/airport security ... we do not know and we shouldn't make assumptions about their threat model.

That's why I started the comment with "reasonable approach"

[–] gary_host_laptop@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago

i dont disagree, but if you don't mention stuff like threat model to n00bs they end up thinking they need to only communicate telepathically in order to not get spied on. every attack is possible, just not for every threat model, for example a very sophisticated js attack wouldnt be used on the wild, but more likely targetted on a specific individual because once it's known it's fixed and you can't use it. it's worthy so you use it on a worthy individual.