Tales from the crypt commands
Making a Choice
So which encryption command should you use for files? The answer depends on your needs. On the one hand, for home users, bcrypt
may be enough – assuming that your distribution still includes it or lets you encrypt with it. On the other hand, if you have some knowledge of encryption issues, mcrypt
is most likely to give you the fine-tuned control you prefer.
However, for most users, ccrypt
provides reasonable security and a reasonable set of options. Its inclusion of the --brave
option suggests that it is designed for users who want to at least experiment with encryption but are not necessarily serious about it.
Yet, no matter what your choice, deciding which to use to encrypt files requires a clear definition of your intentions. Once you have that definition, the choice should be easy.
Infos
- bcrypt: http://bcrypt.sourceforge.net/
- ccrypt: http://ccrypt.sourceforge.net/
- mcrypt: https://sourceforge.net/projects/mcrypt/
- crypt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypt_%28Unix%29
- Blowfish: https://www.schneier.com/academic/blowfish/
- Rijndael: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.security.cryptography.rijndael(v=vs.110).aspx
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