You Don't Want XTS

This piece is written for software designers, not end-users. If you’re an end-user looking for crypto advice: use Truecrypt, use Filevault, use dm-crypt. Also, use PGP, and Tarsnap. Read on only if you’re interested in crypto nerdery. XTS is the de-facto standard disk encryption mode. Because it’s relatively new and high-profile, XTS looks like a desirable general-purpose mode. It isn’t. Be wary of applications that claim to use it for anything other than disk encryption. To see why, you need to understand