FileVault Poll

[fryke]

Ever used FileVault? Or just heard good/bad things about it? I wonder...
I wondered whether I should add "Never even heard about it", but I think if you would choose that one, you're not very relevant to this poll. You can still put a comment into the thread, of course.

[bbloke]

I haven't used FileVault and had mixed feelings about it (I opted for saying in the poll that it was a good thing, though). The idea of extra security for one's home directory sounds like a good thing to me. I would have thought that it could be all the more important for laptop owners, in case of theft.

On the other hand, I heard that FileVault uses a single, encrypted file to store all the data. If this is true, I could imagine that if that one file were somehow corrupted, it could be A Very Bad Thing...

[Mikuro]

Haven't used it, and I think it's a bad thing....sort of. I've heard from people far more informed on the matter than I am say that it has too many show-stopping gotchas to be a standard, easily-accessible feature, but that if you know what you're doing, you can use it with no real risks.

I don't know what all those gotchas are, but I seem to recall something about how you shouldn't use encrypted disk images within your home directory (which is itself an encrypted disk image with FileVault on).

Of course, with everything stored in one file, you are highly screwed if it becomes corrupt. AFAIK there are no consumer-level programs that allow you to recover data from corrupted encrypted disk images. I'm sure there's a way, but I'm also pretty sure that not just anyone can do it.

If I had a laptop, I would consider using it. But not until I did a lot of research on the topic and really knew what I was getting into.

[Giaguara]

I've seen it cause more problems than solve it.
For a few reasons I'm no into using it : first, it slows the system down by about 2 %. When editing certain things, I don't need to lose that 2 %. Then, I don't need EVERYTHING encrypted on my home folder, rather just certain files or folders, AND the things one the external, portable hard drive. Third, there is always the risk of corruption .. something corrupts, and your home folder is gone. Or the computer shuts down without shutting down properly, and it's gone. Way too often I see people with absolutely no backup of their files, and then things go wrong ...

So, instead open firmware password, and login prompt where you have to know the user name and password, AND then the things that need to be encrypted are encrypted, no matter if they are located on my home folder, elsewhere on the hard drive, or on the external hard drive, OR on my backup CD or DVDs.

[Rhisiart]

I use it. No probs. However, does it do what it purports to do?

[Timotheos]

Good poll!

I did use it, I had no idea what it was but if it offered more security it couldnt be a bad thing right? Well one day everything corrupted... or something and I think I lost everything, it was a while ago so I cant remember if I got my data back but it wasnt a good thing for me. It not like I have any confidential files on my computer anyway.

[icemanjc]

I'm more neutral, I've heard of it, know nothing about it and I don't care about it.

[Ferdinand]

Originally Posted by icemanjc

I'm more neutral, I've heard of it, know nothing about it and I don't care about it.

That's exactly how I feel about this.