XTS-AES-256 (XEX Tweakable Block Cipher with Ciphertext Stealing, defined in IEEE Std 1619) is a symmetric encryption algorithm specifically designed for storage and memory encryption. It provides strong data confidentiality while efficiently handling the fixed-address-based structure of DRAM systems.
XTS-AES-256 is recommended when the following applies:
- The protected region is large (hundreds of MB or more).
- Maximum memory bandwidth must be preserved.
- Data integrity verification (authentication) is not required.
- No DRAM capacity overhead for metadata is acceptable.