are they similar?

Hello: before buying CS, i looked at other similar products. my question: do some, most, all encryption programs use the same basic encryption algorithms? i looked for example at kremlin and pgp and you see twofish, blowfish, rijndael,etc. so is the basic difference in encryption programs the user interface? also, what is the future of encryption programs? are there even more sophisticated algorithms on the horizon? thank you in advance for your input...ns51

 

Hi ns51,
even though for a user there might seem several things being more or less the same, the technology behind it and what more is in the product, the extra security measures, what how and where the encrypted files are stored and hidden, the combination of the many encryption tools together, what is already included (do the others offer you an encrypted pc based messages server?) and future plans -- expect encryption to grow in general, more technical details others will tell you or point you to links about that.

 

HI ns51.
Probably the main reason that encryption algorythms such as Blowfish, rijandael etc. by many encryption type programmes is because the algorithms have been checked, tested & proven by ppl that are specialists in that field.

 

The difference is the protocol used to encrypt data, that is to say how encryption algorithms are used together.

For instance, if i encrypt a file with a single algorithm, it is a protocol weaker than to compress the file and then to use 2 algorithm on it, this is the basic idea.

Cryptosuite encryption protocol is very strong, you can read his details in the help file.

 

Just because a program uses a certain algorithm does not make it any more secure. The way the algorithm is used has to be scrutinized to ensure that there is no way to break apart the encrypted data in any significantly fast way. ie They have to resort to trying all possible keys to get the original data which takes a significant amount of processing power.

CryptoSuite's protocol has been developped over many months and has been scrutinized not only by me, but also by other people. As gkweb pointed out, CryptoSuite uses 2 algorithms to actually encrypt the data which gives it at least twice (in regards to one algorithm being broken) as much protection as using just one algorithm.

-Jason-

 

Hello: thanx for the input...ns51