Re: Mac encryption

[kkirksey@world.std.com (Ken B Kirksey)]

>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
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