Setting Up a Virtual Machine with VeraCrypt

[Man]

A virtual OS or guest machine is a convenient way to have a separate "device" for testing or using as a desktop. This allows you to save on purchasing a separate PC or laptop, so there is clearly an advantage, but security must be configured in the same "correct way".

In general, in order for us to be able to create a separate system inside our system, you do not need to be a genius in the field of computer technology.

We will need:
1. Virtual Box.
2. The desired operating system.
3. A little patience.

Virtual Box initializing ​

In order to use Virtual Box on your device, you just need to download it and install it on your main system. You can do this using the official Oracle mirror ( https://www.oracle.com/hk/virtualization/technologies/vm/downloads/virtualbox-downloads.html ).

However, VB is just a program, not the OS itself, so we also need to download a suitable distribution for us. I think that everyone can find and download a suitable version of Windows, in .iso format. In this article, we will move away from Linux systems and will conjure with Windows.

Ready. Set. Go ​

Let's start our first steps to create a virtual machine:

1. Click "New".

We need to specify the name of the virtual machine for our convenience, as well as select the root folder, OS type and its version (selected based on the downloaded Windows OS).

2. Specify the memory size.

2048 MB is enough for stable operation, but you can choose based on your own needs.

3. Virtual hard disk.

VB itself offers us to "Create a virtual hard disk". This is exactly what we will do. We leave the default hard disk file system type "VDI".

We set the hard disk size based on our needs. The author sets 50 GB by default.

Crypt it ​

Since we have configured the system in Virtual Box, there is no need to use VeraCrypt directly. Therefore, let's consider 2 options:

1. VirtualBox Extension Pack.

This addon can be found on the above-mentioned website ( https://download.virtualbox.org/vir...VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-7.0.18.vbox-extpack ). By itself, it is used to virtualize VB.

The process itself is extremely simple:

- Open the downloaded Extension Pack and add it to Virtual Box.

— After installing the extension, open:

Settings -> General -> Encryption.

— Select the encryption type (Recommended: AES-256), create a strong password.

— Wait for the encryption to complete.

Now, before starting the virtual machine, a password will be requested. This will also protect from a cyber forensics point of view.

2. Using VeraCrypt ( https://veracrypt.fr/en/Downloads.html ) to encrypt the volume with the system disk .vdi.

— Start by clicking "Create volume/Создача том"

— We create a crypto container, into which we will later place our .vdi.

— We select where the crypto container will be created.

— We set the encryption algorithm AES-SHA-256.

— Set a secure password.

— We also select the option to add large files.

— After this, you will need to move the mouse to randomize the cipher, and then click "Format".

At the end of the process, an encrypted volume will be created, which we will use later.

In order for us to be able to encrypt our .vdi disk of the Virtual Machine, it will be necessary to mount the volume that we created using "Mount/Mount".

Enter the password.

When opening the file system, add the .vdi file there and voila, your VM disk is encrypted in the volume.

Note: The disadvantage of this method is the need to mount the volume each time before starting the Virtual Machine.

Conclusion​

The choice of encryption method for your virtual machine depends only on your desire to bother. However, encryption is not a panacea and 100% protection. Unfortunately, extreme paranoia leads some inexperienced employees to create too "broad" a layer of encryption, and this leads to confusion and errors. Therefore, our editorial team recommends approaching this with a cool head, so that in the end there is no situation where all data is lost. For everything else, there is a backup.