[SOLVED] encryption password force-changed

[ArtGirl]

Hello

I'd just checked broadband speeds (half what they should be ... solved ie ping London not Texas ), after seeing another post, and was going to say 'same here' over there, but, on entering my network password, with no 'settings' button being beside my connection, and turning the machine off for 10 minutes/rebooting, speeds are even slower. BUT, what's worrying me is that a message has popped up saying about encryption passphrase has been changed. If this is an 18.3 new feature, I will need to move to 18.2, as I don't understand this. I went ahead and ran it, with worrying about not being able to use the computer ... 30+ random letters and numbers?! I haven't rebooted yet, but am surprised I can access Synaptic etc. I thought the message said about encryption of home, yet my previous password works.

[fabien85]

Your password has not been changed, there is no worry.
As far as I understand ecryptfs (which is not much), the home partition is not directly encrypted with your login password, but with a passphrase which is generated taking your login password as input. This passphrase is composed of 32 characters, and it's a good idea to note it somewhere safe, in case you ever have a crash and need to recover the encrypted data.
If the system is intact, you can in principle recover the encrypted home simply with your login password. But if the system got corrupted in the crash, you need the full passphrase to recover.

So this is normal. I dont know if my explanations were clear. It's quite possible they weren't, in which case I advise you to look for introductions to ecryptfs on the net, by people who understand and explain it better than me.

[ArtGirl]

Your password has not been changed, there is no worry.
As far as I understand ecryptfs (which is not much), the home partition is not directly encrypted with your login password, but with a passphrase which is generated taking your login password as input. This passphrase is composed of 32 characters, and it's a good idea to note it somewhere safe, in case you ever have a crash and need to recover the encrypted data.
If the system is intact, you can in principle recover the encrypted home simply with your login password. But if the system got corrupted in the crash, you need the full passphrase to recover.

So this is normal. I dont know if my explanations were clear. It's quite possible they weren't, in which case I advise you to look for introductions to ecryptfs on the net, by people who understand and explain it better than me.

Thank you very much fabien85, and your description was great; clear and easy to understand. Both passwords are working fine, so crisis over. Good to know if it happens again, there's nothing to worry about.

[Mute Ant]

fabian85's description matches what I've learned. There's a lot of accurate information about LUKS and ecryptfs on the internet and advice about safe and unsafe ways to backup encrypted systems.

The Ubuntu-Mint encrypted home folder is a bit fragile...

o If you change your password, the new password may not unlock the old wrapped-passphrase.

o While you are logged in, your unlocked home folder looks just like an unprotected home folder. Other users can see what's in there, and make copies.

o It is possible that logging out doesn't lock up your home folder again.

[ArtGirl]

fabian85's description matches what I've learned. There's a lot of accurate information about LUKS and ecryptfs on the internet and advice about safe and unsafe ways to backup encrypted systems.

The Ubuntu-Mint encrypted home folder is a bit fragile...

o If you change your password, the new password may not unlock the old wrapped-passphrase.

o While you are logged in, your unlocked home folder looks just like an unprotected home folder. Other users can see what's in there, and make copies.

o It is possible that logging out doesn't lock up your home folder again.

Yet another post trying to cause anxiety, when it's clear I haven't the technical know-how to deal with such things. Yesterday it was 'Protonmail could be doing anything and you wouldn't know' and today this. Things have been fine on the machine since May/18.1, but the password change must be to do with new network features in 18.3, I presume. Anyway, issue's solved.

[Mute Ant]

M'kay. Encryption protects the contents of your files if the machine falls into other hands. These working-rules will help to keep the protection effective...
o Don't try to change the password of an Ubuntu-Mint encrypted-home account.
o Don't set a password for the root user.
o Don't make any other user accounts.
o Don't use suspend or hibernate.
o Don't leave your machine running unattended.