96Crypt Help

Block Cipher Selection menu

    96Crypt implements 6 industry standard block ciphers + 1 combined algorithm.
    The user will make his choice based on his own preferences.
    Each one of the proposed 6 block ciphers has been deeply studied by worldwide
    cryptanalysts and has been proven to provide high data security and confidentiality.

    Encryption provides confidentiality for data. The data to be protected is called plaintext.
    This data could be a file of any type or any extension. Encryption transforms the plaintext
    data into an unreadable form, called ciphertext, using a user-provided secret encryption key.
    Decryption transforms the ciphertext back into plaintext using a decryption key. Several
    algorithms have been approved in FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) for the encryption
    of general purpose data. Each of these algorithms is a symmetric key algorithm, where the
    encryption key is the same as the decryption key.
    With a block cipher algorithm, the same plaintext block will always encrypt to the same ciphertext
    block whenever the same key is used.
    In order to maintain the confidentiality of the data encrypted by a key, the key must be known
    only by the entities that are authorized to access the data.
    These symmetric key algorithms are commonly known as block cipher algorithms, because
    the encryption and decryption processes each operate on blocks (chunks) of data of a fixed size.

1. 96Crypt
This is the default selection. It is a combined process using 2 algorithms, Twofish followed by SERPENT.



2. 3DES
    DES is an IBM algorithm designed during the 1970s. In 1976, NIST has officially adopted it as
    an encryption algorithm for unclassified data. Since then, DES has become one of the widely
    used block ciphers on the market. As the effective key length of DES is a 56-bit, a triple-DES
    was created. The new 3DES concept uses three DES rounds to EnCrrypt the DATA 3 times.
    96Crypt is designed to feed 3DES with a (3x64) 192-bit key, even if the key size obtained by
    the user selected HASH was shorter.

3. AES-RijnDael
    This Advanced Encryption Standard designed by Joan Daemen and Vincent Rijmen, is a
    FIPS-approved symmetric encryption algorithm that may be used by U.S. Government
    organizations (and others) to protect sensitive information.
    RijnDael was designed to have a variable key length supporting 128-bit, 192-bit, and 256-bit.
    RijnDael was the winner of the AES competition with 86 votes.
    96Crypt is designed to feed AES-RijnDael with a 256-bit key, even if the key size obtained by
    the user selected HASH was shorter.

4. Blowfish
    Blowfish, by Bruce Schneier, combines a Feistel network, key-dependent S-Boxes, with a
    non-invertible f function. This block cipher iterates a simple encryption function 16 times.
    Blowfish was designed with a variable key length ranging from 32 bits to 448 bits.
    96Crypt is designed to feed Blowfish with a 448-bit key, even if the key size obtained by
    the user selected HASH was shorter.

5. MARS
    Another IBM product, MARS uses addition, subtractions, S-boxes, fixed and data dependent
    rotations, and multiplications within the same algorithm. It is a Type-3 Feistel network,
    shared-key block cipher.
    IBM claims "The high security, high speed and flexibility makes MARS an excellent
    choice for every solution."
    MARS has a variable key length ranging from 32 bits to 1248 bits (39x32).
    MARS was a finalist in the AES competition, ranking 5th with 13 votes.
    96Crypt is designed to feed MARS with a 448-bit key, even if the key size obtained by
    the user selected HASH was shorter.

6. SERPENT
    Developed by Eli Biham, SERPENT is a very secure and very fast algorithm.
    It is a 32-round SP-network Symmetric Block Cipher with a very efficient bitslice implementation.
    The basic Logical operations used in SERPENT are:
    bit-wise XORing 32-bit, AND, OR, NOT, shifts 32-bit and rotate 32-bit.
    SERPENT design is similar to RijnDael, however RijnDael is faster but SERPENT is more secure.
    Serpent needs 256 bit keys for its internal computation.
    SERPENT was a finalist in the AES competition, ranked 2nd with 59 votes.
    96Crypt is designed to feed SERPENT with a 256-bit key, even if the key size obtained by
    the user selected HASH was shorter.

7. Twofish
    Another great algorithm designed by Bruce Schneier. This block cipher was designed as
    a successor to the 64-bit Blowfish block cipher.
    Twofish combines a 16-round Feistel network with a bijective f function made by four
    key-dependent 8x8-bit S-boxes.
    Twofish requires 256 bit keys for its process.
    Twofish was a finalist in the AES competition, was ranked 3rd and received 31 votes.
    96Crypt is designed to feed Twofish with a 256-bit key, even if the key size obtained by
    the user selected HASH was shorter.

    NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) made the following comments about
    the five finalists: RijnDael(1), SERPENT(2), Twofish(3), RC-6(4) and MARS(5)
    "Each of the finalist algorithms appears to offer adequate security, and each offers a
    considerable number of advantages. Any of the finalists could serve admirably as the AES.
    However, each algorithm also has one or more areas where it does not fare quite as well as
    some other algorithms; none of the finalists is outstandingly superior to the rest."

    The block ciphers implemented in 96Crypt are listed below:

Algorithm Name	Rank in AES competition	Max. key length required by cipher	Key length provided by 96Crypt
AES-RijnDael	First - 86 votes	256-bit	256-bit
SERPENT	Second - 59 votes	256-bit	256-bit
Twofish	Third - 31 votes	256-bit	256-bit
MARS	Fifth - 13 votes	1248-bit theory / 448-bit industry	448-bit
Blowfish	-	448-bit	448-bit
3DES	-	3x64-bit	192-bit

    Note:
    When opening 96Crypt, it will auto-position on the last cipher selection that
    was saved the last time 96Crypt was closed.

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