Tagged Questions

2
votes
1answer
218 views

How to make a secure key distribution scheme/protocol?

We are building a data processing platform on Amazon AWS. We are going to store sensitive data in the S3 (encrypted) and then the Amazon EC2 node is going to be utilized to process this data. We are ...
2
votes
2answers
710 views

How get data from password protected rar file?

I want retrieve documents from a password protected rar file? I know brute force and dictionary method. Is there any other method to get data?
3
votes
3answers
251 views

Can email be encrypted before it reaches the mail server? If not, is there something that would allow something like this that's being worked on?

I was thinking about hosting my own email (own email server) instead of using Gmail. But then I realized I could never host my email on a server where I'm also hosting Wordpress. That is because I ...
1
vote
2answers
132 views

Seeking lightweight encryption - shareable between Delphi & C

I want to encrypt a text file in Delphi & decrypt it, line by line, in C on an embedded system which does not have much RAM (so, only one line in RAM at a time). FOSS must be available for both ...
0
votes
1answer
373 views

truecrypt second encryption of the master and XTS key with a back door password

this table was published by (Ubuntu Privacy Remix Team ), in an analysis document, anyway i was quite skeptical. On file based containers as well as on completely encrypted partitions or drives ...
5
votes
1answer
144 views

Could a consumer-friendly PGP-like file encryption application theoretically be secure?

In a situation where there are desktop and mobile clients, and a central public key repository to and from which the desktop and mobile clients automatically upload and download public keys as needed, ...
1
vote
1answer
107 views

Is proper documentation on .xef files available anywhere?

WinACE encrypts files (using one of its 8 methods) into a file with the extension .xef. I'd want to see some documentation on this file format but I couldn't find anything... I'm particularly ...
2
votes
2answers
2k views

Excel 2007 Encryption Strength

With a strong password of 10+ characters, mixed case, etc... Is the encryption of a Excel 2007 document secure enough to create reasonably strong defense against a brute force attack? What encryption ...
3
votes
1answer
158 views

Is there a way to store user files without being able to decrypt them?

I'd want to build a secure file storage web application. Currently ordinary password authentication is used for login. After login this password is used for encryption and decryption of user files at ...
2
votes
2answers
443 views

How to use 'key material' so that multiple people can access protected files?

I'm not sure if this is the right SE to ask this question, but it seems more I have a database of files that needs to be encrypted such that multiple people with different passwords/logins to this ...
1
vote
2answers
260 views

How secure is using this (p3 Python) module to encrypt a file?

I've recently been looking for a good (enough) method to encrypt files, and I came across this thing. It says that it's a Simple p3 encryption "algorithm": it's just SHA used as a stream cipher ...
3
votes
3answers
1k views

TrueCrypt -vs- MacOS encrypted sparse image - equally secure? Other alternatives?

I'm currently trying to find my personal best solution for storing passwords and other sensible data. Recently I've used 1Password on iPhone and Mac but I'm not really satisfied with its predefined ...
6
votes
6answers
2k views

Good file encryption tools

Could you please help me find a good file encryption tool? The target OS is Linux, but tools for Windows are welcome, too. FOSS tools are preferred. The tool must be reliable both for the recovery of ...
5
votes
1answer
845 views

Device versus file based encryption in TrueCrypt for a flash drive?

Are there security tradeoffs to be considered in deciding between encrypting an entire flashdrive with TrueCrypt versus storing a file encrypted container? The security goal is to be immune to the ...
1
vote
1answer
239 views

Should I mount my mac Truecrypt Volume elsewhere?

I've read in various places to not mount your truecrypt volume in the same place as your Dropbox or Sugarsync folder. I believe this only matter for Mac/Linux, but I need some verification. On a Mac, ...
1
vote
1answer
1k views

What algorithm/encryption type does Gmail use for security?

In the wake of the recent database hacks, i.e. Sony, Gawker, etc.. where the hackers have access to the hashed usernames and passwords, i've been more keen in paying attention to the sites and ...
21
votes
5answers
1k views

Do spaces in a passphrase really add any more security/entropy?

I often see passphrase suggestions written as a sentence, with spaces. In that format are they more susceptible to a dictionary attack because each word is on it's own as opposed to a large unbroken ...
1
vote
1answer
1k views

Are there any reviews or user experiences with Secretsync?

I haven't been able to find much in the way of professional reviews for Secretsync - http://getsecretsync.com/ss/ But i'm wondering how it compares to Boxcryptor and Truecrypt. How secure is ...
5
votes
7answers
956 views

Verify the password of an encrypted file without waiting for complete decryption

I am currently working on an application that encrypts files with AES 256. The problem is that I want the user to see whether the password is wrong before the file is decrypted. For example if you ...
9
votes
3answers
2k views

What are you doing when you move your mouse randomly during a truecrypt volume creation?

Is that called a 'round' every time you move your mouse when creating a new volume? I'm talking about the screen with the random numbers during the volume creation process. What is the purpose of ...
5
votes
3answers
457 views

Will editing a Word file from a mounted Truecrypt volume leave any trace behind on the host computer?

I've heard that even if you have a Word document encrpyted (just using the built in Word encryption tools) and are editing it, it can still leave behind remnants of a file on the local computer in ...
0
votes
3answers
687 views

Why do some LUKS tutorials mention overwriting the partition with random data?

On a lot of tutorials on luks encryption, people say to override the partition with random data, so that data is not recoverable after encryption. I don't understand that. Will the random data be ...
7
votes
3answers
261 views

Secure cleaning of deleted files

So I know how to secure delete files. But at our company, we have a laptop which had many important documents, which now have been deleted, but not in a secure way. We can't perform a full format of ...
8
votes
5answers
5k views

How secure is NTFS encryption?

How secure is the data in a encrypted NTFS folder on Windows (XP, 7)? (The encryption option under file|folder -> properties -> advanced -> encrypt.) If the user uses a decent password, can this ...
8
votes
5answers
2k views

How can I decrypt data with Java, without hard-coding the key?

I hope this is not a chicken-egg problem or reinventing the wheel but here goes. I have a Java application that needs to access a password protected file (actually during the application startup). The ...
7
votes
6answers
12k views

How secure is a Windows password protected zip file?

I need to send some sensitive information to a client. I thought I would email a password protected zip file I created using Windows XP and then call them with the password. Presuming I pick a good ...
11
votes
4answers
316 views

Encrypting data by parts vs encrypting the whole data

Suppose I have a file with records, and I have two options to encrypt it: encrypt the file as a whole encrypt each record separately and store them together. Which way is generally preferable and ...
10
votes
5answers
313 views

Security of using passwords or even passphrases to encrypt files

Is it ever appropriate to use real-world passwords to encrypt files to be sent via unsecure means. By real world, I mean a password that is memorable and memorisable by a mere person? I am implying ...
7
votes
2answers
2k views

Simple way to encrypt files on Linux and decrypt on Windows?

We are in need of an encryption process for backups of very valuable data. This data will be stored on a distributed filesystem, so even with permissions set right, its not out of reach that this data ...
6
votes
5answers
2k views

Encrypting files in a windows environment

We have certain client data which must be encrypted at all times. The part we have been struggling with is encrypting files on network shares. Currently we have network folders encrypted using PGP ...
9
votes
4answers
4k views

What's the standard way to encrypt a file with a public key in Java?

I'm writing a client app in Java that sends encrypted data back to the server. All clients have my RSA public key. Is there a standard way to encrypt a given file with it to send it back to the ...