CrossCrypt
Encyclopedia
CrossCrypt is an open-source on-the-fly encryption
OTFE
On-the-fly encryption , also known as Real-time Encryption, is a method used by some encryption programs, for example, disk encryption software...

 program for the Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

 Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

 XP/2000 operating systems. CrossCrypt allows a user to make virtual drive
Virtual drive
A virtual drive in computing is a device that to the operating system appears to be an ordinary physical disk drive, with disc images substituted for disc reading hardware through the use of software called a disk emulator...

s which encrypt any files stored on them, making the encryption process completely seamless to the user.

CrossCrypt is based on FileDisk, virtual disk driver for Windows NT/2000/XP that uses one or more files to emulate physical disks, adding encrypted volumes functionality.
It is claimed that FileDisk violated copyright owned by Jamey Kirby when it was released under the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....

 by Bo Brantén, although no proof has ever been given to support this assertion.

Features

Application operates on .IMG file format disk images.

The format of CrossCrypt container files is fully compatible with one of the older Linux loop-AES device formats.http://sourceforge.net/projects/loop-aes/, they can be used under both Windows and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

.

Although a GUI has been created for CrossCrypt (i.e. CrossCryptGUI), CrossCrypt on its own operates without a GUI using a command line interface. One advantage being its small size; as it's composed of only a single driver in *.sys format (43 Kb) and one command line or GUI executable (*.exe) (96 Kb). It does not have any installer.

CD/DVD encryption

The application is capable of encrypting CD/DVD images (.ISO
ISO image
An ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...

). After burning it with any writing application disk looks blank when inserted into normal CD/DVD reading device (though, when mounted with the CrossCrypt application the state does not change, files are accessed in a new virtual drive).

Encryption algorithms

The encryption algorithms supported by CrossCrypt include AES
Advanced Encryption Standard
Advanced Encryption Standard is a specification for the encryption of electronic data. It has been adopted by the U.S. government and is now used worldwide. It supersedes DES...

 (256, 192, 128; SingleKey Mode aes-loop compatible) and TwoFish
Twofish
In cryptography, Twofish is a symmetric key block cipher with a block size of 128 bits and key sizes up to 256 bits. It was one of the five finalists of the Advanced Encryption Standard contest, but was not selected for standardisation...

 (160 Bit Key; SuSE Linux compatible).

See also

  • FreeOTFE
    FreeOTFE
    FreeOTFE is an open source on-the-fly disk encryption computer program for PCs running Microsoft Windows, and personal digital assistants running Windows Mobile . It creates virtual drives, or disks, to which anything written is automatically encrypted before being stored on a computer's hard or...

     - A significantly more advanced disk encryption program from the same author as CrossCryptGUI
  • Disk encryption
    Disk encryption
    Disk encryption is a special case of data at rest protection when the storage media is a sector-addressable device . This article presents cryptographic aspects of the problem...

  • Disk encryption software
    Disk encryption software
    To protect confidentiality of the data stored on a computer disk a computer security technique called disk encryption is used. This article discusses software that is used to implement the technique...

  • Comparison of disk encryption software
    Comparison of disk encryption software
    -Background information:-Operating systems:-Features:* Hidden containers: Whether hidden containers can be created for deniable encryption...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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