VeraCrypt Disk Encryption Software

VeraCrypt is a free and open-source disk encryption software that provides on-the-fly encryption (OTFE) for protecting data on hard drives, USB flash drives, and external storage devices. Originally forked from the discontinued TrueCrypt project in June 2013 by Mounir IDRASSI (IDRIX, headquartered in France), VeraCrypt addresses security vulnerabilities discovered in TrueCrypt's TrueCrypt audit (conducted by NCC Group in 2014) and continues active development. Key features: on-the-fly encryption: data is automatically encrypted and decrypted in real-time as it is read from or written to disk, with encryption keys stored in RAM and never written to disk unencrypted. Volume types: file-hosted (virtual encrypted disk stored as a single file on any storage device), partition/device-hosted (encrypting entire partitions or non-system drives), and system encryption (pre-boot authentication encrypting the entire Windows system partition). Encryption algorithms: AES (256-bit), Serpent (256-bit), Twofish (256-bit), and cascaded combinations (AES-Twofish, AES-Twofish-Serpent, Serpent-AES, Twofish-Serpent) for layered encryption. Hash algorithms: SHA-512, Whirlpool, SHA-256, BLAKE2s, and Streebog. Key derivation: PBKDF2 (TrueCrypt used 1,000 iterations; VeraCrypt uses 500,000 for non-system volumes and 327,661 for system encryption), significantly increasing brute-force resistance. Hidden volumes: plausible deniability feature where a hidden encrypted volume exists within the free space of an outer visible volume, with different passwords revealing different volumes. Hidden operating system: a decoy OS and a hidden OS on the same machine. Platform: Windows (Vista through 11), Linux, macOS. Hardware acceleration: AES-NI instruction set and AVX2. UEFI secure boot support. Bootloader encryption. Keyfile support for additional authentication. Traveler mode (portable mode for USB drives). PIM (Personal Iterations Multiplier) for custom iteration counts. Open source under Apache-2.0.