When a fully encryped USB drive is connected to a computer, the OS says this USB drive is not formatted. How can I verify that a USB drive is fully encrypted while still being formatted? Is there a certain way to confirm this?
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1 Answer
If something is just encrypted it is not really distinguishable from random data, i.e. one cannot say if it is unformatted or encrypted. If instead some container format (like LUKS in Linux) is used for this encryption and the container format is known to the OS then the OS can detect (and will usually also do it) that this is an encrypted container and that some password or similar is needed to access it.
answered Feb 1, 2020 at 13:08
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In other words, taking a look at the entropy of the drive should help. Commented Feb 1, 2020 at 14:25
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I’ve done a LUKS-based setup where the payload occupies the entire USB flash drive making it appear to be random data from sector 0 all the way to the last sector. The LUKS header is on a separate device. When both devices are connected, I can input a password to decrypt and mount the volume. It was an interesting concept, but I’m not sure it’s got any practical uses.– Kevin LiCommented Feb 2, 2020 at 18:18