Help page for XCRYPT 1.0
This is Vaspra group's Xcrypt 1.0 help section. For more info regarding Xcrypt , visit our website
First things first , thanks for choosing our software out of the whole lot of encryption - decryption software . This software is freeware. With this software you can make your files safe and secure and you can protect them from prying eyes !! . Ever had a problem with sending confidential material over the net ? if you did , you've found the solution . no more worrying about the safety of your information . Just Xcrypt it and send it over. Take our word for it , your information will be as safe as possible .
How this software works?
Xcrypt was designed keeping in mind the lengths some people go to get somebody else's confidential information . We thought about this person and assumed he was a professional hacker . After a short discussion about various popular encryption techniques available ,we settled for "symmetric key encryption" . In symmetric key encryption a key or a password is used to encrypt a piece of data . The same key has to be provided for decryption . This algorithm is fast and secure. As long as the key remains in safe hands (i.e. the sender and the receiver ) , the data is safe . The key that you enter in Xcrypt can be of any length . This key is used as a mask for the data to be encrypted . The values in the key are then XORed (a binary operation) with the data in steps of the length of the key . To get back the original information the data has to be XORed with the same key . A simple example would be your door lock. To close and open the door you need the same key.
Selecting a good key
The key is central to this algorithm . Thus to ensure maximum protection, a proper key should be chosen . The key that you select should not be too big , neither should it be too small . Big keys are hard to remember and small keys are easy to hack!! . So you should go in for a key of length 15-50 characters . Try to avoid using common words , phrases , names of people you know , birth dates etc because these keys are easily "guessable" . The key should be a mixture of alphabets and numerals . NEVER have two repeating consecutive characters in a key .
Examples of good passwords :
TYKS340D20M9AMSYA , YOUARE92IDIOTIC!!1009Examples of Bad passwords :
Sonali ( no names please ), 11111111111(you know this is no good), apple ( two p's are consecutive repeating characters ) , Hello (too small)
Xcrypt's non cryptic interface !
Xcrypt was designed with the novice user in mind . The interface is highly intuitive. You should have understood how the software works by just looking at it . but if you haven't , you can proceed .
Let's say you want to encrypt the following files :
c:\windows\desktop\top_secret.txt , c:\windows\desktop\hello.cpp
Follow the procedure given below :
- open Xcrypt 1.0
- Click on ADD button . This will show you a file select dialog . choose both the files by selecting with the mouse or keyboard .
- After you've clicked on OPEN in the file select dialog box the files you have selected appear in the list beside the ADD button.
- Verify to see if all the files you need to be encrypted are there in the list . if they aren't , follow the steps 2 and 3
- If for some reason you are not satisfied with the selected files and wish to start all over , Click clear and follow steps 2 through 4.
- Type in a key of your choice or click AUTO to get Xcrypt's random key.
- Click on the button with the lock symbol with 'Encrypt now !' written beside it.
- Encrytion process starts and the status is shown in the black list . Errors are indicated with a red cross mark.
- The encrypted files are stored in the same directory with a '.enc' extension added to them.
Encrypted files will be :
c:\windows\desktop\top_secret.txt.enc , c:\windows\desktop\hello.cpp.enc
Now comes the decryption part , this is usually done on somebody else's computer , say your friend's one.
The files c:\windows\desktop\top_secret.txt.enc , c:\windows\desktop\hello.cpp.enc were sent to him through email and he saved them to his desktop. Make sure that you DON'T send him the key along with the files . Anybody who sees the mail will easily figure out how to decrypt the data given the key !
To decrypt, follow the below give procedure:
- open Xcrypt 1.0
- follow steps 2,3,4,5 as given in the encryption procedure
- type in the key with which the files were encrypted.
- click 'Decrypt' , the button with the key on it.
- you are done . the decrypted files are placed in the same directory and the .enc extension is stripped.
CAUTION ! Xcrypt overwrites existing files whose name matches the name of the decrypted files . it is safer to copy all encrypted files to a separate directory and decrypt there.
REMEMBER! The safety of the information depends on the strength of the key . So the key has to be transferred in a secure way . Never send the key through email . You can check vaspra's website (http://vaspra.8m.com) for tools to transmit small chunks of information through email . These tools are currently under development ( as of 1st March 2002) . These use radical approaches like embedding information in picture files . This information can be read only be these tools . This way you can send your keys embedded in picture files which are rarely intercepted by hackers!
Copyright 2000 . Vaspra group