Forums Bugs & issues Files encrypted but not encrypted! Reply To: Files encrypted but not encrypted!

#7888 Reply

Gary

I am underwhelmed by the changes introduced with Axcrypt 2.

First, there’s a general assumption made in Axcrypt 2, that the last “key” used for decryption is the one to use for encryption of subsequent files. Not so. With Axcrypt 1, I could select a file or a batch of files and define a unique key for them when encrypting/decrypting, a key that might depend on the date and type of the file and its intended destination. For example, I might use one key for MS-Word files to my editor, another key for JPEGs to my compositor, another for videos to my news bureau and another for personal correspondence. Now, if I want to choose a new key for encryption, I have to log out and log back in again. WTF!  Of course, you’re also assuming that the files will remain on my lap-top, rather than being passed along as e-mail attachments and shredded from my lap-top as soon as I’ve sent them along.

Second, you make an assumption, that if I click on the icon for an encrypted file and Axcrypt2 has the key for that file, it is to be opened and its contents automatically displayed. WTF. That could be catastrophic. I don’t want files opened automatically, I want files decrypted and displayed <span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>ONLY</span> if I make such a choice and provide the key, exactly as I would have done with Axcrypt 1.

Third, you have removed the capacity to generate random names for files through the drop-down menu, which could be used to disguise quickly the file-type contained in an encryption and hence increase the security of the contents. For whatever reason, you’ve taken away that capability. WTF.

All this, within a few minutes of trying out Axcrypt 2. Journalism is fraught with enough risk in some parts of our not-so-friendly world, and these changes have actually taken personal security backwards, rather than forwards or just sideways. Thanks, guys. Not. I’ll go back to Axcrypt 1 or find some other way to manage my laptop and file-exchange security.