In this chapter we will talk about encryption of the created virtual machine. If you have a forensic analysis of the .vdi file on the virtual machine we created earlier, you can get full access to all the virtual system files without starting the OS and, respectively, without starting the user-built protection mechanisms.
It is worth noting that the virtual system has two modes: live , i.e. the mode when the installation is not performed and the virtual system uses RAM resources without saving anything after shuting down, and the full mode, i.e. with installation on the virtual hard drive when the system saves all your files and works as a complex analogue of your main operating system.
To protect the files of the installed virtual operating system, you must encrypt the virtual disk. On some systems, such as Linux Mint, encryption of the entire disk is already available at the software level, other virtual systems can be encrypted using the built-in VirtualBox tool.
To encrypt using the built-in VirtualBox tool you must install the Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack, which can be downloaded from the official website, using the following link: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
This software is a free cross-platform extension package for the VirtualBox virtualization system. Its installation is done in the VirtualBox program itself by double-clicking on the extension package file.
Detailed installation process consists of the following steps:
- Launch VirtualBox.
- Double-click on the downloaded extension package (sometimes you have to indicate on your own that you need to open this file using the VirtualBox program).
- In the VirtualBox program window, click on the Install button.
Lower the scroll bar of the license agreement down and click I agree, if you do agree with the license agreement.
Installation will start automatically and will take less than a minute.
After the installation is completed, the program will notify you of the successful completion using a pop-up box.
The installation of the extension pack is completed.
Now you can use encryption system. Open the program, select the virtual system and go to Settings> General> Encryption.
Select the desired encryption method (we recommend AES-256) and provide a strong password. Please note that this will reduce the load speed of your virtual machine, since the data must be decrypted before loading it.
Here is how it looks on macOS. Select the virtual machine you need and go to Settings> General> Encryption. Select the encryption type and password. Remember that a strong password must be 25 characters or more.
Wait until the end of encryption. Now when you start a virtual operating system, you will have to enter a password to decrypt files, but your data will be reliably protected.
