What is everyones opinion of the best encryption software forthe Mac? Frederic Halper
I've been using Kent-Marsh's CryptoMactic since last August and have been very pleased with it. It supports two proprietary (i.e. useless) algorithms, LightningCrypt and QuickCrypt, as well as DES, DES-CBC, and Triple (two key) DES. It automatically overwrites your plaintext with a pattern of your choosing. It's fairly quick, and it does what it claims. I do have a couple of minor nit-picks with it, however: 1) No support for IDEA. They've left the architecture open for additional encryption modules, but they've yet to produce the documentation (_Insided CryptoMactic) for the programming interface. I talked with one of Kent Marsh's people back in August and expressed an interest in writing an IDEA module for them, and he thought it was a great IDEA and would get me a copy of _Inside Cryptomactic_ when it was ready. I checked back with him last month, and they still don't have _IC_ together yet. 2) The Allow override feature. One of CryptoMactic's preferences lets you override encryption on any file if you have this feature activated. You simply run the CryptoMactic Administrator program from a floppy (you shouldn't be dumb enough to install it on your hard disk), enter your (entirely optional) password, chose the file you wish to decrypt, and click "Override". If you have the override option on, the security of your files is only as good as the physical security of your master floppy, especially if you do not choose to password protect the administrator app. How hard is it to crack the password on the administrator app? I'm working on it; I'll let you know.... :-) Until then, I'm leaving this option off. 3) The overwrite patterns. I'd like to see a little more flexibility in user defined patterns, akin to what Schneier suggests in _Applied Crypto_. JMHO, of course, Ken ============================================================================= Ken Kirksey kkirksey@world.std.com Mac Guru & Developer ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harassment is a power issue, and power is neither male nor female. Whoever is behind the desk has the opportunity to abuse power, and women will take advantage as often as men. - Michael Crichton (in _Disclosure_)