A Quick Lesson
on Encryption
Encryption
can often be a confusing subject. You know you need it, but you
really don't have the time to learn how it works. The good news
is that you don't need to know anything about encryption to use
SafeHouse. If you can use a PC and can remember your password, then
that's everything you need to know to use SafeHouse. However, just
in case you might be a little bit curious about encryption technologies,
we've included some details below.
File
Encryption vs. Volume Encryption
File
encryption utilities have been around for many years. They are generally
used to encrypt and decrypt files on demand, one at a time. Sure,
these utilities work, and they are even just as secure as other
methods, but they can quicky become cumbersome to use. Instead,
SafeHouse uses a concept known as volume encryption. With volume
encryption you are relieved of the burden of individually encrypting
and decrypting files or needing to remember which file is in what
state, etc. A single volume, or container file, is created to hold
all of your sensitive information. Volumes are associated with a
Windows drive letter to make them easy to use. After supplying your
password only once, you can read, write, copy, delete, rename, drag,
drop or do anything you would ordinarily expect to do with any other
drive; only in this case, the data is transparently encrypted and
decrypted for you.
Popular Encryption
Algorithms
SafeHouse
includes support for a number of popular encryption algorithms in
a variety of key strengths. Industry experts generally agree that
a minimum of 128-bits of key strength is required to ensure the
privacy of your data.
How
strong is a 128-bit key? For starters, a 128-bit key has 3.4 x 1038
possible values. That’s 1021 times stronger than
a 56-bit DES key. The famous “DES Cracker” machines built
in the late 1990’s could recover a 56-bit key in a matter of
hours. If this time could subsequently be reduced to one second
(meaning trying 255 keys per second), then it would take that same
machine approximately 149 thousand-billion (149 trillion) years
to crack a 128-bit key. To put this into perspective, the universe
is believed to be less than 20 billion years old. Of course, if
you need something stronger, SafeHouse still has you covered; offering
two 256-bit ciphers and another at 448-bits.
Blowfish
Blowfish
is fast, supports long keys, and is well-respected in the industry.
Blowfish runs nearly 20x faster than DES. SafeHouse offers several
different Blowfish key lengths: 32, 48, 56, 128 and 448. Each version
runs at the same speed. The various key lengths are required for
compliance with certain export control laws.
Twofish
Twofish
was designed by the same scientist who invented Blowfish. Although
it has not been around as long as Blowfish nor subjected to the
same level of scientific scrutiny, it was a finalist in the NIST
competition for choosing a new national encryption standard and
is generally regarded as being superior to Blowfish in quality and
speed. Twofish is available in two strengths: 128 and 256 bits.
Only the 128-bit key size is compatible with SafeHouse’s administrative
key recovery features.
Rijndael
(AES)
The
Rijndael algorithm was selected by NIST in October, 2000, to become
the new official Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for use within
the U.S. Government. Rijndael is available in two strengths: 128
and 256 bits. Unlike Blowfish and Twofish, this algorithm takes
longer to process at higher key strengths. The 256-bit version is
approximately 40% slower than the 128-bit version. Only the 128-bit
version is compatible with SafeHouse’s administrative password
recovery features.
DES
DES
stands for Data Encryption Standard. This algorithm has been around
for over 25 years and is now believed to be vulnerable to attack
since its key size is only 56 bits.
Triple
DES
Triple
DES is three rounds of DES. Each round uses a different permutation
of your password. The algorithm is secure, yet very slow. Blowfish,
Twofish and Rijndael are usually better choices than triple DES
when you have the opportunity to make a choice.
What About
the Math?
The
bottom line is that you don't need to understand the math used by
modern-day encryption algorithms. As long as you choose a reputable
encryption product such as SafeHouse which incorporates tried and
true algorithms which have withstood the test of time and meaningful
industry scrutiny, you can safely leave the math to the guys wearing
the propeller beanie caps.
Still,
if you must know and want to read a bood book on the subject,
we recommend reading Applied
Cryptography 2nd Edition by Bruce Schneier.
