Re: Encrypt a file
On Mon, 9 Oct 2000, Brian May wrote:
> >>>>> "Francois" == Francois Fayard <fayard@ens.fr> writes:
>
> Francois> Hi, Does anyone knows a software that encrypts files
> Francois> with a password ?
>
> You seem to be asking specifically for symmetric encryption here (you
> use the same key to encrypt and decrypt), as opposed to asymmetric
> encryption (where you use a public to encrypt and a private key to
> decrypt).
>
> While there are pros and cons in both methods, I have to wonder what
> you need to encrypt files for. For most applications, asymmetric
> encryption is better.
No, for most applications, symmetric encryption is better. It is
stronger, faster, more standardized, better tested, etc. The asymmetric
methods often use asymmetric encryption only to encrypt a key for a
symmetric algorithm.
That said, you might still consider using pgp, as I believe it has the
ability to do symmetric encryption. Or, if you want *extremely* weak
security (but enough to confuse your kid sister) then check out the unix
command crypt.
Damian Menscher
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