Whether you are the only user on your computer or not, it is always good to keep your confidential or sensitive files secure using encryption. Encryption is a method where you make the files unreadable unless a correct password is supplied to the program that is used to encrypt the files. There are many encryption software out there and one of the most popular one is TrueCrypt which is open source, proven to be secure and most importantly, free.
Other than many different encryption software, there are also many encryption algorithms and also different methods to use as password. For TrueCrypt, you can either specify a password or use a keyfile to decrypt the encrypted container. The problem with using password is it needs to be long and preferably a word that does not exist in a dictionary to prevent brute-force attack from cracking the password. Moreover a password can be captured by a keylogger. A unique keyfile is somehow risky as well because if you lose it, there is no way to decrypt the encrypted files. Probably a better way for some individuals is to use pictures as their password.
PixelCryptor is a free encryption software allows you to encrypt files or folders using picture as your password. The advantage of using an image file as the password is it won’t trigger any suspicion or attention even if you have that picture saved on your desktop. Moreover using PixelCryptor won’t add another password to the list of the dozens that you need to memorize.
It is very easy to encrypt and decrypt files/folders using PixelCryptor, thanks to the wizard that guides you through the whole process. After installation, run PixelCryptor and click on the second icon from the left to encode files. The next step is to add files or create new folders to the package (drag and drop is supported).
Once you’re done adding the files, click the Next button and click on the center of the program to select an image or picture as the password. PixelCryptor claims that using a large complicate image will provide better encryption than a small one without much details.
Click the Next button again and finally specify the location to save the encrypted package which will be in .CGP extension.
Decrypting the file is as easy as the encryption process. Run PixelCryptor and click on the third icon from the let to decode the files. Select the image that you’ve previously used as the password, click Next and select the .CGP package file.
If you have specified the correct picture, the files that are encrypted inside the package will be shown. Click Next and the final step is to select the destination to save the decrypted files.
Although encrypting files using pictures as your password is quite creative and useful especially to old people who tends to always forgot their password, it does have its flaws and weaknesses. First of all, the encrypted package is saved as .cgp extension and it is associated to PixelCryptor by default. This would allow any user who has access to the computer to know the program used to encrypt the package. The next thing is to search for the correct image to unlock and decrypt the .CGF package.
Windows keeps a list of all recent opened files by creating a shortcut and store them in the user’s Recent folder which can be easily accessed by pressing WIN+R and type recent in the Run window. The picture used by PixelCryptor to encode can be found on the Recent folder. If it’s not there, a program can be created to automate searching of all images on the computer and test it with PixelCryptor.
Unlike TrueCrypt which is so famous that attracts a lot of individuals or password recovery companies in constantly finding ways to beat the encryption, PixelCryptor flies under the radar and so far there are no known methods or cracking utility that is able to decrypt the encrypted package without the correct image as password.
Tip: Although PixelCryptor requires installation, the program’s folder installed in Program Files can be copied to an external USB flash drive and ran from there. Doing this will provide additional security.
Thanks for blogging about this software.VERY nice, i am impressed. keep up the excellent work.
Raymond.
VERY nice, i am impressed. keep up the excellent work, Raymond.
Another nice one Raymond, I will have to give that one a try as I am always looking for good encryption software.
Another application that allows a similar technique is TCrypt though it allows you to pick any number of different files of any type to use as the key with or without an additional password. To decrypt all you have to do is point the TCrypt program at the files you initially selected to use for creating the key. Of course TCrypt is meant more for full disk, partition or volume encryption rather than individual file or files. But it is easy to create a volume of any size on the fly as required which can then be transferred to any other media or transport mechanism, as convenient, to someone else. All you have to do if using a number of files to create the encryption key and wish to share the encrypted volume with a third party is to agree with a third party which files to use for creating the files and as long as they have a copy of the exact same files they can then decrypt the volume using TCrypt.
Additionally, the main download includes a folder with a traveller version which doesn’t tie into the system and so can be copied to and run from any type of external drive making it easy to take with you, as I do on a flash drive. Though like PixelCRyptor, it has no back door or workaround, so if you lose the password (if you used one) or any of the files you used to create the encryption key you are screwed.
As you can see I am a big fan of TCrypt. Especially as It also has the ability to have a shadow encrypted volume hidden inside an already encrypted volume. Thus if you are ever forced to reveal the password to the first encrypted volume there is nothing to show that there is another encrypted volume hidden inside it. For if the opened encrypted volume is scanned it only appears as empty space with no sign that there may be another shadow volume. Though using a shadow encrypted volume inside an already encrypted volume is probably overkill for the average user, but it has its uses for those with a real need for deep and deniable encryption.
Thanks for blogging about this software. Used with combination with some other encryption utility – it can prove to be provide safe environment for one`s private files.