Re: length of keyfiles

Thank you for your answer Arno... and for confirming that I should 
finally get rid of those double density floppy disks and reader :-P

Regards!
Felix

---
Felix Rubio
"Don't believe what you're told. Double check."

On 2021-01-06 11:47, Arno Wagner wrote:
> Hi Felix,
> 
> I assume we are talking LUKS here, plain mode is different.
> 
> The longer length is both convenience and helps if you
> use low-entropy input. The keyfile does not actually
> hold a key (LUKS mode), but a passphrase. Passphrases
> get hashed, and once you have maximum entropy, you
> cannot get more. I would need to look up what length
> is actually used, but it does not depend on the lenght
> of the encryption key. That one is stored in the anti-forensic
> stripes, protected with the hash from that passphrase.
> 
> So, to make this short, if you use LUKS with a keyfile,
> putting in more entropy than used is meaningless.
> If your random data is from /dev/random or (properly
> initialized) /dev/urandom, 64 bytes are more than enough.
> 
> Also, the differences between an 8kB passphrase and a
> 64B one in execution time should not be noticeable at all.
> Unless you read it from floppy disk ;-)
> 
> Regards,
> Arno
> 
> 
> On Wed, Jan 06, 2021 at 10:17:22 CET, Felix Rubio wrote:
>> Hi everybody,
>> 
>> I have seen that keyfiles can be used in cryptsetup up to 8 kB, but
>> internally the master key is 512 bits at max.  Is there any 
>> recommendation
>> / increased security by using a random sequence of 8 kB w.r.t., let's 
>> say,
>> one of just 64 bytes?
>> 
>> I understand that using one of 8kB will require more time than one of 
>> 64 B
>> when unlocking the volume, but...  is the former really that much more
>> secure than the latter?
>> 
>> Regards!
>> Felix
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