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I have an encrypted file container inside my NTFS pendrive. The root folder Write permission is blocked for everyone. A folder inside it has all permissions unblocked. The dummy file of TrueCrypt is inside the "full access" folder. It has a 64 characters password, containing… you know… everything and I made a backup to create another file container.

Now, what would be regarded to the potentially "best" (in terms of security) algorithm and hash? Any algorithm and/or hash that I should definitely be avoiding? Or is the choice of algorithm and hash more a matter of personal opinion/preference because there aren’t any real differences between the available choices from a security point of view?

EDIT

In the end, I used the algorithm AES(Twofish(Serpent)) with as hash Whirpool. To me, SHA-512 is a 2nd place loser. I didn’t choose RIPEMD160 as it’s a DOS-days cipher and – if I’m not mistaken – someone might have found a way to break it? I just didn’t want to take a risk.

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All ciphers offered by TrueCrypt (e.g. AES, Serpent, Twofish) are "impossible to break" to the best of current public knowledge. Which one of them will be successfully attacked first (if at all) is obviously unknown at this time, hence a matter of personal belief. The same applies to hash functions (SHA512, Whirlpool, RIPEMD160) — there are no relevant weaknesses known in any of them. The standard choice would be AES combined with SHA512.

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    $\begingroup$ RIPEMD-160 is a 160-bit hash, which means collision attacks are sort of feasible to imagine. Should not affect its use in TrueCrypt, but in general I would not say that it is strong. $\endgroup$
    – otus
    Apr 5, 2016 at 8:04

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