Welcome to Kruptos 2

Q: What is Kruptos 2?

A: Kruptos 2 is a very easy to use and powerful 128/256-bit file encryption utility that allows you to secure any sensitive files stored on your PC or portable storage device. Kruptos 2 includes a powerful file shredding utility, and the ability to generate self-decrypting files. What is encryption?

Q: What is Encryption?

A: Encryption scrambles your data by using irreversible mathematical functions. It is simply the encoding of data so that it cannot be read by anyone who does not know the password that decodes it.

Q: Who needs encryption software?

A: You do. That's the simplest answer. Seriously, if you have any sensitive data stored on your computer you need to protect it!

Q: What Encryption Algorithm is used?

A: Blowfish

Q: What's Blowfish?

A:http://www.schneier.com/blowfish.html

Q: Does Kruptos 2 use a Hash function, if so which one does it use?

A: Yes. Versions below 3.18 use MD5 however this algorithm is now considered unsafe and will be replaced with SHA256.

Q: Is a copy of my password stored in the Encrypted file?

A: No.

Q: So how does Kruptos 2 know when an incorrect password is entered?

A: When encrypting a file Kruptos 2 produces a one way Hash based on the entered password, this hash is then encrypted using the same password, the encrypted hash is then stored in the encrypted file.

During decryption a new one-way hash is created based on the password you entered. Next we load the stored encrypted one-way Hash (from the encrypted file) and decrypted it using the same-entered password. We now have two Hashes, the one based on the password you entered to decrypt file and the stored one (which we decrypted with the same password). All we need do now is compare the two Hashes for the result.

To sum up:

During Encryption:

1. Create a hash based on your password

2. Encrypt this hash using your password as the key

3. Store the encrypted hash

During Decryption

1. Create a hash based on your password

2. Decrypt the stored hash using the same password

3. Compare hashes

Q: What's a Hash function?

A: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_function

Q: Does Kruptos run on my system?

A: Kruptos has been tested on: Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows 2003

Q: What support do you offer?

A: Currently we can only offer email support, however this is free and we will always try to respond in a timely fashion.

Q: I forgot my password; can you help me to get the data back?

A: Unfortunately we are not able to help you. The key that is used for decryption is a big random value that was used to encrypt your file. We cannot guess it. You can guess the password but if the password is quite random and bigger than 8 characters it's also impossible.

Q: Can I store encrypted files on recordable CD disks, CD-RW disks or USB flash disks?

A: Yes, you can. For CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW encrypt the desired files on your hard disk then burn them onto the CD or DVD. For USB, Floppy's or external hard drives simply encrypt the desired files on the device.

Q: Can I encrypt my Photos and MP3 collection?

A: Kruptos 2 can Processes any number of files and all known file types.

Q: Can I install Kruptos 2 on a removable device and run it on any PC?

A: Yes. Unfortunately when you run Kruptos 2 on a PC other than the one you installed it on you will only be able to run the Kruptos 2 program, the Windows Explorer Plug-In will not be available as it needs to be registered on the hosted PC. To register the plug-in Simply navigate to Options | Windows Explorer, from here you can choose to either register or un-register Kruptos Explorer.

Q: What is an .enc file?

A: Simply a file that has been encrypted via Kruptos 2

Q: Can I backup encrypted data?

A: Yes. An encrypted file is an ordinary file and you can back up and restore it like any other file on your computer.

Q: How secure is the shred utility?

A: Kruptos 2 shred complies with the Department of Defence clearing and sanitizing standard: DOD 5220.22-M

The standard states that hard disk media is sanitised by overwriting with a character, then the character's complement, and then a random character.

Q: Does Kruptos 2 support self-extracting files?

A: Yes. The self-extracting file contains within it the program software needed to unpack and decrypt all the files contained within it. The end user, therefore, does not need any special software to execute the file. Simply executing the file will run the application to unpack and decrypt the data contained.

Q: My filenames are sensitive, can Kruptos disguise them?

A: Yes. You can optionally disguise filenames when you encrypt them, what's more you can view the original filename by simply selecting ' View original filename ' from the options menu, enter your password and the original filename will be displayed.

Q: Does Kruptos automatically handle temp files from programs like Microsoft Office?

A: No. Kruptos only "knows" about the current file you are working with