In 2001, I published a short book, “
Freeware Encryption & Security Programs”. Although this book is now out of print, I have made a PDF copy of it available to readers of
Chesbro on Security. You can download a copy from my Google Drive here:
https://goo.gl/7YtDwY.
Some of the encryption programs I discussed in the book, are still available today. Others have been overtaken by time and technology, and are no longer available. The need and desire for encryption however have not gone away. New freeware encryption programs are now available to help you protect the content of your files, folders, and on-line communications.
Encryption should be used for everything, not a feature you turn on only if you're doing something you consider worth protecting. This is important. If we only use encryption when we're working with important data, then encryption signals that data's importance. If only dissidents use encryption in a country, that country's authorities have an easy way of identifying them. But if everyone uses it all of the time, encryption ceases to be a signal. No one can distinguish simple chatting from deeply private conversation. The government can't tell the dissidents from the rest of the population. Every time you use encryption, you're protecting someone who needs to use it to stay alive.
A Google search for "encryption programs" will return a large number of results. The following encryption programs are some that I have used, at least to some extent while studying encryption. Whether one program is better than the next depends on your specific needs, the computer operating system that you are using, and compatibility with what those with whom you share information are using to protect their own data. Experiment with the encryption programs on the following list. Save and use those programs that meet your personal needs.
AES Crypt (
https://www.aescrypt.com)
Encryption is an essential part of your personal privacy and security, but it is not a 100% solution. Consider the following tips while choosing and using your encryption programs.
1) Hide in the network. Implement hidden services. Use Tor, I2P, Freenet, and VPNs to anonymize yourself. The less obvious you are, the safer you are.
2) Encrypt your communications. Use TLS. Use IPsec. While it's true that some agencies target encrypted connections - and may have explicit exploits against these protocols - you're much better protected than if you communicate in the clear. Woe betide whomever transmits plaintext.
3) Assume that while your computer can be compromised, it would take work and risk to do so - so it probably isn't. Still physical security is important and should be included in your overall personal security plan.
4) Be suspicious of commercial encryption software, especially from large vendors. My guess is that most encryption products from large US companies have back doors, and many foreign ones probably do as well. It's prudent to assume that foreign products also have foreign-installed backdoors. Closed-source software is easier to backdoor than open-source software. Systems relying on master secrets are vulnerable to adversaries, through either legal or more clandestine means.
5) Try to use public-domain encryption that has to be compatible with other implementations. For example, it's harder to backdoor TLS than BitLocker, because any vendor's TLS has to be compatible with every other vendor's TLS, while BitLocker only has to be compatible with itself, giving an adversary a lot more freedom to make changes. And because BitLocker is proprietary, it's far less likely those changes will be discovered. Prefer symmetric cryptography over public-key cryptography. Prefer conventional discrete-log-based systems over elliptic-curve systems; the latter have constants that governments influence when they can.
