Advice on Encryption

[jjdeterick]

Fellow Monks,

I'm looking to implement encryption and was looking for some advice on choosing the best package/module. My requirements are:

It must be cross platform UNIX compatible (SUN, AIX etc.)

It must work with C libraries

It MUST be FreeWare :-)

I've heard that a package called BlowFish is good... Has anyone used this?

This will be my first use of encryption, so any help will be greatly appreciated.

~J

[ignatz]

It would help if you told everyone what you were trying to get done. Can't pick the right tool for the right job if you don't know what the job is. For current threads on the subject, try typing "encrypting" in the search box for the site.

I would also recommend picking up Bruce Schneier's masterpiece on the subject: Applied Cryptography. This is not a subject that you want to get into without doing a lot of homework.

()-()
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[Ryszard]

Additionally "Secrets and Lies" by the same author will provide some good information as to when encryption should be used and how effective it can/cant be.. :-)

[RMGir]

A lot is going to depend on what you need encryption for...

I'll 2nd the vote for Schneier's book; you can get yourself into a lot of trouble if you're using encryption without knowing what you're doing.

A false sense of security could be the least of your worries...

If you're looking for encryption of IP communications, though, OpenSSL (and OpenSSH for telnet-like applications) are widely used. OpenSSL also comes with some general-purpose crypto routines you can adapt to whatever purpose you need.
--
Mike

[fglock]

I've been using GPG for some time, but it works as an external program (it is not a C library).

I am trying to find better options, too.