Encrypted partitions for DNS-323

It is possible to use losetup and friends to have encrypted partitions on your DNS 323. Currently, this is only possible for the 1.03 and 1.05 firmware, unless you fancy compiling your own kernel modules (see crosscompile). But be aware that this will have a huge impact on performance (expect to get about 10% the performance of normal disk access…)

There is no need to install a full-blown Linux distribution, just grab these files:

• losetup with encryption support in http://www.x-linked.de/dns323/fw105/cryptloop/sbin/losetup
• cryptloop.ko Kernel module in http://www.x-linked.de/dns323/fw105/cryptloop/modules/block/cryptoloop.ko
• all available encryption modules in http://www.x-linked.de/dns323/fw105/cryptloop/modules/crypto/ – choose one

insmod cryptloop.ko
insmod algorithm_of_your_choice.ko

That's all you need, now go read http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-HOWTO/Loopback-Encrypted-Filesystem-HOWTO.html on how to setup an encrypted disk image.

Firstly, you will need to have installed debian under a chroot. Then, install the “loop-aes-utils” package on it.

Next, you need to get the missing kernel modules. These should be placed in /mnt/HD_a2/modules/`uname -a`/, eg /mnt/HD_a2/modules/2.6.12.6-arm1/

• Grab all the modules from http://dev.skcserver.de/dns323/modules_v1.03/kernel/crypto/ and place under crypto/
• Grab all the modules from http://dev.skcserver.de/dns323/modules_v1.03/kernel/lib/ (and subdirectories) and place under aa_lib/
• Grab cryptoloop.ko from http://dev.skcserver.de/dns323/modules_v1.03/kernel/drivers/block/ and place under block/

Edit your funplug script, and add in the following near the top:

 # Load extra modules
 cd /mnt/HD_a2/modules/`uname -a`/
 for i in */*.ko; do insmod $i; done

You're now ready to get started with losetup, see http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-HOWTO/Loopback-Encrypted-Filesystem-HOWTO.html

To see what crypto drivers you have, do cat /proc/crypto . Most of the crypto drivers will have a small key size than default, so you will almost certainly need to specify something small than losetup would expect, eg losetup -e twofish56 /dev/loop0 /dev/md1 rather than just -e twofish

These speeds were found by writing /dev/zero to a 10mb crypto device on the 1.03 Firmware, and reading it back again. They were run 3 times and averaged.

aes          - 128 bit - 1.5 MB/s write - 2.1 MB/s read 
blowfish-32  -  32 bit - 2.3 MB/s write - 4.8 MB/s read 
blowfish-48  -  48 bit - 2.3 MB/s write - 4.8 MB/s read 
blowfish-448 - 448 bit - 2.2 MB/s write - 4.7 MB/s read 
blowfish     - 128 bit - 2.2 MB/s write - 4.7 MB/s read 
des3_ede     - 192 bit - 0.6 MB/s write - 1.3 MB/s read
serpent      - 128 bit - 1.9 MB/s write - 4.1 MB/s read
twofish      - 128 bit - 2.1 MB/s write - 4.2 MB/s read
xor          -   1 bit - 2.7 MB/s write - 5.5 MB/s read
twofish-256  - 256 bit - 2.1 MB/s write - 4.2 MB/s read

A quick test with different hardware on 1.05 Firmware reveals a 90% performance impact compared to unencrypted disks