Re: encrypting modem links
I'm wondering if there is a way to do this with PCs?
Yes, with difficulty, and not transparently.
Is there a way to encrypt a remote users entire connection with the BBS, so that they would have to have a special term program to access the system?
For PC's, replacing the terminal software is really the best way. There is no effective abstraction of serial port hardware in the PC world. The int 0x14 driver in the BIOS was rampantly defective, and MSDOS does not provide a standard interface. As a result, almost all comm software on PC's talks to the serial port directly. Now in MS Windows, there is abstraction for ther serial ports, but I don't know how easy it is to insert a device layer.
It would be best if the user only had to load a device driver or something so that they wouldn't all have to use the same comm program.
It might be possible, using a 386, to make a driver that acted as if it were hardware but actually did encryption. Ick. Reliability and cross-program compatibility would be shit. And it would have to be made compatible with whatever else was taking over the 386. Remember: I hate DOS. Eric