Incoming from Henry W. Farkas:

[snip]

When the safety is finally removed from the gun at your head (sorry for the drama) you hand over your alternate secret key. If decrypted with the "alternate" or "fake" secret key, the encrypted file is wiped until it reaches a marker; the remainder of the file is displayed. If you use your "primary" or "real key", the extraneous text is simply stripped.

I would just like to point out that, when a LEA comes to you to get at the contents of your computer, (s)he is not going to patiently wait while your system wipes the offending evidence off your hard disk. The first thing they do is make a copy of everything, so they can work from the copy. Besides, you do have backup tapes laying around all over the place, don't you? -- "Remember, obsolescence (Win95) isn't an accident; it's an art form!" keelings@wu1.wl.aecl.ca s. keeling, aecl - whiteshell labs