stand-alone Encrypted Document

[dw]

I am looking for a stand-alone method of storing encrypted data
(personal info + 'stuff'), such that I can run it as an executeable
file, without external encryption packages. I know I could encrypt in
Microsoft 'Word' however that requires Word + I believe is very easily
cracked.

Any ideas???

tia
DW

 

[Ionizer]

I am looking for a stand-alone method of storing encrypted data
(personal info + 'stuff'), such that I can run it as an executeable
file, without external encryption packages. I know I could encrypt in
Microsoft 'Word' however that requires Word + I believe is very easily
cracked.

Any ideas???

tia
DW

This was recommended in one of this week's Lockergnome newsletters:
http://www.mywebattack.com/gnomeapp.php?id=104638 Not sure if it's exactly
what you're after, but have a look.

Regards,
Ian.

 

[Duddits]

I am looking for a stand-alone method of storing encrypted data
(personal info + 'stuff'), such that I can run it as an executeable
file, without external encryption packages. I know I could encrypt in
Microsoft 'Word' however that requires Word + I believe is very easily
cracked.

Any ideas???

tia
DW

SafeGuard PrivateCrypto creates self extracting encrypted files.
http://www.privatecrypto.com/eng/dl_pc_index.html

regards

Dud

 

[dw]

SafeGuard PrivateCrypto creates self extracting encrypted files.
http://www.privatecrypto.com/eng/dl_pc_index.html

regards

Dud

This seems similar to Ionizer's suggestion of 'Cryptainer'
It was possible to create an encrypted self-extracting executeable with
these apps, however this was not quite what I was looking for.
I will describe in more detail, and maybe this will ring some bells.

I and my family have individual bank accounts. To access these via the
internet requires remembering Account numbers, ID Codes, Passwords and
Memorable Information (because some accounts occasionally query
characters from the MI text as well !!)
We cannot remember all this stuff ... so I write it down.
A big no-no !!!!

So I thought a possible solution was to have an exe which when clicked
on, opened itself up and displayed the encrypted text (my passwords etc)
The above encryption programs did create an exe ... but it extracts to a
plain-text file which I then have to open up as a second step, and then
delete when finished as a third step.

Any suggestions much appreciated.

DW

 

[John Steele]

This seems similar to Ionizer's suggestion of 'Cryptainer'
It was possible to create an encrypted self-extracting executeable with
these apps, however this was not quite what I was looking for.
I will describe in more detail, and maybe this will ring some bells.

I and my family have individual bank accounts. To access these via the
internet requires remembering Account numbers, ID Codes, Passwords and
Memorable Information (because some accounts occasionally query
characters from the MI text as well !!)
We cannot remember all this stuff ... so I write it down.
A big no-no !!!!

So I thought a possible solution was to have an exe which when clicked
on, opened itself up and displayed the encrypted text (my passwords etc)
The above encryption programs did create an exe ... but it extracts to a
plain-text file which I then have to open up as a second step, and then
delete when finished as a third step.

Dekart Private Disk lite - version 1.19 will allow you to create a folder
that is encrypted. You need to type a password to open it. Not quite what
you were looking for but would probably work. If privacy between different
family members is required then they could each have their own folder.

http://www.dekart.com/products/file&disk_encryption/private_disk_light/

John Steele
Soroban Systems

 

[mike555]

We cannot remember all this stuff ... so I write it down.
A big no-no !!!! ------- snip ---------

Any suggestions much appreciated.

DW

I use " PassKeeper " from ... www.passkeeper.com .....it's
encrypted, password protected and you can have different ones for each
member of the family on the same computer..... I put a link to it on
my quick launch bar, so I can open it while on a web page ...Mike555

 

[dw]

------- snip ---------



I use " PassKeeper " from ... www.passkeeper.com .....it's
encrypted, password protected and you can have different ones for each
member of the family on the same computer..... I put a link to it on
my quick launch bar, so I can open it while on a web page ...Mike555

Many thanks, this works.
I would have liked a single exe which also contained the data, however
this does exactly the job I needed it to do. Many thanks
DW

 

[WebWalker]

I am looking for a stand-alone method of storing encrypted data
(personal info + 'stuff'), such that I can run it as an executeable
file, without external encryption packages. I know I could encrypt in
Microsoft 'Word' however that requires Word + I believe is very easily
cracked.

Any ideas???

PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) http://www.pgpi.com

 

[Duddits]

I and my family have individual bank accounts. To access these via the
internet requires remembering Account numbers, ID Codes, Passwords and
Memorable Information (because some accounts occasionally query
characters from the MI text as well !!)
We cannot remember all this stuff ... so I write it down.
A big no-no !!!!

So I thought a possible solution was to have an exe which when clicked
on, opened itself up and displayed the encrypted text (my passwords etc)
The above encryption programs did create an exe ... but it extracts to a
plain-text file which I then have to open up as a second step, and then
delete when finished as a third step.

Any suggestions much appreciated.

DW

How about a password manager?
http://2003.pricelessware.org/PL2003SECURITY.htm#PasswordManager

I like PasswordSafe
http://sourceforge.net/projects/passwordsafe/

There is also a cripple-ware program that will automatically fill in your
passwords
Roboform (limited to passwords)
http://www.roboform.com/


regards

Dud

 

[Simon Whitaker]

Try Oubliette password manager.

http://www.tranglos.com/free/oubliette.html

 

[GamePlayer]

I am looking for a stand-alone method of storing encrypted data
(personal info + 'stuff'), such that I can run it as an executeable
file, without external encryption packages. I know I could encrypt in
Microsoft 'Word' however that requires Word + I believe is very easily
cracked.

Any ideas???

Depends on what you want it to do.
I don't know of any with a built-in viewer, but if you are happy enough
with amounts to a zipfile with a password (ie, expands to a file you can
then use a normal program of the appropriate type to view) then you
couldn't go too far wrong with 7-zip (www.7-zip.org) whose self-extracting
executables use AES at 256bits for password protection.

 

[H-Man]

I am looking for a stand-alone method of storing encrypted data
(personal info + 'stuff'), such that I can run it as an executeable
file, without external encryption packages. I know I could encrypt in
Microsoft 'Word' however that requires Word + I believe is very easily
cracked.

Any ideas???

tia
DW

I created just such a program for myself some time ago. What it does is
creates files with a special extension, and then associates itself with that
extension. When you double click on a file, it brings up a text box with a
password dialog. Because there is no password verification, it will bring up
whatever your password does to the text. If the password is incorrect the
text will be illegible, if correct you'll see readable text. The cipher is a
modified RC4 algorithm, and adds some additional randomness in the
encryption, so I would say it is reasonably strong, although probably
crackable by the same techniques used to crack RC4. AFAIK, RC4, is still
considered reasonably strong and is still used quite frequently. I'm not
sure if you might be interested in it, but I could email you a copy if you
want.

HK

 

[mike555]

Many thanks, this works.
I would have liked a single exe which also contained the data, however
this does exactly the job I needed it to do. Many thanks
DW

your welcome ! another idea you might try is downloading "AxCrypt
------- http://axcrypt.sourceforge.net/ . it lets you encrypt a
text file or just about any file ...very good program.....Mike555

 

[Alan]

Depends on what you want it to do.
I don't know of any with a built-in viewer, but if you are happy
enough with amounts to a zipfile with a password (ie, expands to a
file you can then use a normal program of the appropriate type to
view) then you couldn't go too far wrong with 7-zip (www.7-zip.org)
whose self-extracting executables use AES at 256bits for password
protection.

I didn't know that self-extractors had password capability...
never looked actually ;-). Is this feature you mention specific to 7-zip
or is something similar supported in most archivers?

 

[Steve H]

I created just such a program for myself some time ago. What it does is
creates files with a special extension, and then associates itself with that
extension. When you double click on a file, it brings up a text box with a
password dialog. Because there is no password verification, it will bring up
whatever your password does to the text. If the password is incorrect the
text will be illegible, if correct you'll see readable text. The cipher is a
modified RC4 algorithm, and adds some additional randomness in the
encryption, so I would say it is reasonably strong, although probably
crackable by the same techniques used to crack RC4. AFAIK, RC4, is still
considered reasonably strong and is still used quite frequently. I'm not
sure if you might be interested in it, but I could email you a copy if you
want.

Blowfish Advanced CS does exactly this, albeit with a selection of
algorithms including Blowfish and Twofish.
It also has option to append a filename with a suffix ( .bfa ) and
change the icon ( into a cute little blowfish ).
You can also set the 'double click' function to 'work with' - which
instantly re-encrypts the document when closed.
Incorrect password brings up an error message.

Regards,

 

[GamePlayer]

I didn't know that self-extractors had password capability...
never looked actually ;-). Is this feature you mention specific to 7-zip
or is something similar supported in most archivers?

Most support passwords as well - but to be honest, most don't use decent
encryption (within certain conditions, original ZIP 1.0 and 2.0 passwords
are a joke - it is actually faster to break one than to type in the
password
Word 97 and above are actually quite decent in their password protection -
not as strong as "real" crypto, but strong enough the time taken to break
it using an array of 256 computers is measured in weeks or months rather
than minutes (there is a tool on the market to do just that, using the same
principles as the seti@home and so forth - using idle cycles and
evenings/weekends)
7-zip (and the new breed of winzip iirc) use real crypto (AES@256) where
the same array of 256 computers would take thousands of years to break the
crypto by brute force (and have to resort to key guessing - so as long as
you pick a hard-to-guess key you are ok)