This is exactly the point. If storing random data was the norm (formatting utilities would offer it) then it would be hard to make a case against it.
replyAnd it actually _does_ make sense for formatting utilities to offer it, as this is a good way to ensure that data is really gone after formatting (writing all 0s or all 1s could leave information at the physical layer; and any intermediate layer could not compress random data much so the data must be overwritten).
Fair warning; any links to specific cases (not the law itself)?
replyThis lists two unnamed individuals.
replyhttps://edri.org/our-work/edri-gramnumber7-16decrypt-data-ca...
> There are people sitting in jail because they couldn't decrypt the "random noise" on their computers.
replyNo, there isn't.
There literally are not. Anyone competent enough to be an expert witness will be able to plainly explain to everyone else how statistical analysis obviously delinates the difference between truly random noise and an encrypted volume.
replyIf there's a difference visible, that's a weakness in the encryption algorithm.
replyEncrypted data should be statistically indistinct from random noise.
It's an information theory thing. Everything in the ciphertext should be sitting at maximum entropy.
Loll, you have a lot of faith in the legal system that I do not. Expert witnesses are commonly full of shit.
replyI heard one argue that "zooming" on an image by adding pixels with an algorithm is normal, and he's had such "evidence" used in court before. I was a little horrified as someone who has worked on digital forensic software at a former employer. Adding pixels to an image is not evidence, you're fabricating something out of thin air, especially if its drastically smaller, its even more likely to be BS.
replyEven if that is true, I have better things to do with my time and money than pay a expert witness to explain: see, I wasn't breaking the law, I just wanted the cops to think I did. That just seems like a really bad idea.
reply> the difference between truly random noise and an encrypted volume
replyA LUKS volume with a detached header is indistinguishable from random data.