I've been running Linux Mint for a couple months and now I want to apply some encryption to certain data-sensitive folders.
I've read that Ubuntu has an installation option to encrypt everything in the /home folder, but I don't remember having that option when I installed Mint, and it seems way too complicated to encrypt it post-install.
But I don't need to protect everything like that, I just want to protect the sensitive folders against the common thief who might happen to have a hacker buddy, not the FBI or Japanese Mafia who might have a crew of forensic data experts and high-end equipment. So I'm planning to create a Truecrypt volume and put the sensitive folders in there.
That includes not just the folders I created, but also some of the data folders created by applications, such as .mozilla and .thunderbird. If I moved .mozilla and other similar application folders into the Truecrypt volume, and then created symbolic links to their new location, would those applications continue to function as is?
I'm also aware of the security holes involved with the swap partition, but that's another topic for another time.