Dev1 Galaxy Forum / How do you encrypt files?

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (Panopticon) — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 12:41:29 +0000

^ i will have to look into it, thanks && thanks golinux.

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (HextorBRX) — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 15:01:23 +0000

I have just watched the video and Tomb looks dope so far. What a nice name! The process is quite straightforward, even for mundanes (no offense to you guys).

@Panopticon In case you did not check it out, steghide is included in Tomb. It may catch your interest.

There is one functionality I don't know about. Do you know whether Tomb automatically encrypts file names? I used to tick a box to do that with 7zip.

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (Giorgos) — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 00:51:59 +0000

golinux wrote:

I have never used Tomb (or any file encryption) but if I wanted to go there, I'd give it a spin.

Very interesting!!!
I wasn't aware of it.

With a first look, In comparison with Sirikali, seems to have some more advanced options (eg. it informs you if a swap is active, in order to temporarily disable it).
I can see that it can use as a GUI zuluCrypt (Sirikali's sister project).

Very interesting indeed!
THANKS golinux!!! ;-)

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (Giorgos) — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 20:32:13 +0000

@Giorgos you know every trick in the book. Could you please show me the XZ package you mentioned? https://pkginfo.devuan.org/ This one? https://pkginfo.devuan.org/stage/ascii/ … .2+b1.html
I thought the 7zip port was p7zip. Also, clamtk is a GUI for clamav (antivirus). What did you mean son?

Ooops!!!
Mea culpa. :-(

I copy-pasted the wrong name.
SORRY!!! :-)

I meant J7Z.
Homepage: http://j7z.xavion.name/
Last version: https://sourceforge.net/projects/k7z/fi … %29/1.4.1/

Infos about XZ archives: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xz

I never installed xz utils (even from my Kubuntu days). They were always here, where I was in need for compressing something.
Then again, they may autoinstalled with some other package.
What ZIP manager (GUI) are you use?
Does it have XZ support?

EDIT:

xz-utils. This is the name of the package for XZ.
I think it comes preinstalled, if you choose base - console utilities.
If you have installed it, the GUI archiver , will offer the creation of a tar.xz archive.
Ark (which comes preinstalled with KDE), creates XZs, but without asking questions, assumes the compression to be "Normal".
That's why I replaced Ark with J7Z. (For creating "Ultra" compressed archives).

Of course, one can achieve the same results from console, but it takes too many switches to be convenient for me.

HextorBRX wrote:

I usually encrypt files, directories not so much. Do you guys use Veracrypt for files as well?
I am still looking for something easy to use and not time consuming but encryption quality is more important. Can I have it all?
I will look into Tomb and Veracrypt.

Stick with Veracrypt. Stable and mature, multiport (so you can access the same container from Windows), easy to install, straightforward to use, it has them all! :-)
And don't be fooled by its simplicity. Its very powerful and lets you choose even rare algorithms to use (although all the default settings are OK).

If you have plenty of time and want to learn a more traditional Unix way to encrypt, try Tomb or Sirikali.
Its always pleasant to learn new things.

If you want to learn details about the 2 different ways of directory-ies encryption, look there:
https://mhogomchungu.github.io/sirikali/
https://www.cryfs.org/comparison

THANKS for your kind words!!! ;-)
G.

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (HextorBRX) — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 18:02:34 +0000

I usually encrypt files, directories not so much. Do you guys use Veracrypt for files as well?

I know how to use gpg. I does the job but it is not remotely as handy as 7zip on Windows, you know what I mean? I only had to tick one or two boxes and that was it! I don't say command line tools are difficult to use but they don't beat 7zip in that area, because there is nothing like 7zip when you are in a hurry.

@Giorgos you know every trick in the book. Could you please show me the XZ package you mentioned? https://pkginfo.devuan.org/ This one? https://pkginfo.devuan.org/stage/ascii/ … .2+b1.html
I thought the 7zip port was p7zip. Also, clamtk is a GUI for clamav (antivirus). What did you mean son?

I am still looking for something easy to use and not time consuming but encryption quality is more important. Can I have it all?
I will look into Tomb and Veracrypt.

Thank you for all your suggestions by the way.

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (golinux) — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 16:33:39 +0000

I have never used Tomb (or any file encryption) but if I wanted to go there, I'd give it a spin.

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (Giorgos) — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 15:12:08 +0000

I agree with Pan!
Veracrypt, is the best option available.

PS. I was searching online and someone posted his opinion, that the best available online encryption, is going online not with your usual Linux installation, but creating a barebones VirtualBox installation, which it has to be encrypted, when not in use.
This way, you'll leave no tracks to your working system.

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (Panopticon) — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 13:14:46 +0000

^ I used to use 7zip to encrypt files but then i found veracrypt a better way and it is pretty much distro agnostic not to mention it has the ability to use keyfiles and more advanced cryptography.

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (Giorgos) — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 12:56:56 +0000

Single files?
When I was working in Windows I was using 7Z for this. Just create a 7Z archive pwd protected (amongst with its filelist).
At Linux I'm using XZ (the 7Z actually, Unix ported with support for file attributes).
For XZ GUI,I'm using J7Z.

Directories?
Veracrypt. It has an installer. You only have to add yourself to sudoers.
(At KDE, you can use KUser for dealing with users administration).

There's also a more native approach (based on kernel's cryptographic modules).
Give Sirikali a try and decide for yourself.
For backend, choose GocryptFS for a start. (You can download the binary and place it somewhere in your path).

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (fsmithred) — Wed, 10 Oct 2018 18:03:13 +0000

I can imagine a future google service that warns you if someone is standing behind you when you're about to enter a password.

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (chris2be8) — Wed, 10 Oct 2018 16:29:19 +0000

Hiding the password is only useful if someone might be watching the screen (it doesn't help if they are watching your fingers as you type a password in). But it's impossible for a password manager to know if someone might be watching the screen, so they always assume the worst.

Chris

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (HextorBRX) — Wed, 10 Oct 2018 12:45:20 +0000

I did not want to create another topic for this question. I wonder whether it is necessary to hide passwords with asterisks. All password managers hide passwords by default and I do not understand the point of this functionality. Is it only useful in public places?

Password manager's databases are encrypted with a Master Key but aside from that, I cannot find another reason to use them. Then, I thought of the hidden password functionality...

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (GNUser) — Mon, 21 May 2018 17:49:22 +0000

HectorBRX,

I don't have a GUI solution, but I can recommend gpg (part of gnupg package), which is very easy to use for symmetric encryption (same passphrase for both encryption and decryption) if that's what you are looking for.

To encrypt a file:

gpg --yes --batch --passphrase="YourSecretPasswordHere" -c yourfile.abc

To decrypt:

gpg --yes --batch --passphrase="YourSecretPasswordHere" yourfile.abc.gpg

gpg's default cipher algorithm for symmetric encryption is AES-128 (which gpg calls simply "AES"), but you can specify a different cipher by using the --cipher-algo flag (to see available ciphers, run gpg --version).

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (golinux) — Mon, 21 May 2018 16:59:36 +0000

I have never ventured into Tomb territory. It might suit your purposes if you put a little effort into it and is an "in house" solution.

Re: How do you encrypt files?

dummy@example.com (Panopticon) — Mon, 21 May 2018 12:25:25 +0000

Sorry to spam the thread but i find these topics interesting.

Have a read of this in regards to steganography .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerckhoffs%27s_principle

Kerckhoffs's principle

In cryptography, Kerckhoffs's principle (also called Kerckhoffs's desideratum, assumption, axiom, doctrine or law) was stated by Netherlands born cryptographer Auguste Kerckhoffs in the 19th century: A cryptosystem should be secure even if everything about the system, except the key, is public knowledge.