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EnScrypt is a suite of applications (written in Applescript) providing high quality and easy-to-use encryption and digital signatures. Requirements: Mac OS X. Certain modules require companion applications (self-explanatory).

A typical use for EnScrypt is secure communications. Specific EnScrypt modules have been written to work with many applications that Mac enthusiasts use for text processing and communication. including Eudora, Microsoft Entourage, Mail (Apple), Tex-Edit Plus, Microsoft Word. Other modules are in the works. The email and text modules are designed to be fully compatible with each other, meaning that users create encrypted and encoded text with one application, and send their messages to correspondents who then decode and decrypt with a different application. EnScrypt is reliable, fast, and has excellent capacity. The modules for email and text have been tested on documents as large as 100 pages. Encrypt (and sign) or decrypt (and validate) a 10 page original document in under 10 seconds, or a 50 page document in 90 seconds (on a 1.5 ghz G4 Powerbook with 1 gig of RAM). The module for file encryption, "EnScrypt_Files" is about 10x faster than that.

Because it uses a state-of-the-art encryption algorithm, "Blowfish", with a 128 bit key, you would probably call EnScrypt "strong encryption", although the use of shorter or overly simple passwords would surely compromise security. To facilitate the use of more complex passwords and logins, the suite includes an encrypted database called "EnScrypt_Vault". EnScrypt also includes the "SHA1" algorithm for digital signatures.

Major Revision History

• Version 1.4 (currently in private beta testing). Adds a module, "EnScrypt_Files" for encrypting and decrypting files (as opposed to just text), Very very fast. Adds another module for managing secure passwords, logins and personal memos, "EnScrypt_Vault".
• Version 1.3 (June 2005) changed the configuration of EnScrypt from a script to an application. Added an installer. Made saving copies during encryption optional rather than mandatory. Added a module called "EnScrypt_Universal" for working with any text using the Mac's clipboard.
• Version 1.2 (May 2005) changed the configuration of EnScrypt from two scripts to a single combined script.
• Version 1.1 (May 2005) added digital signature routines.
• Version 1.0 (April 2005). Rudimentary encryption and decryption scripts for 5 Mac applications.

Known Incompatibilities and Notes on Individual Modules

• EnScrypt installer and/or EnScrypt application require executable permissions which, if not set properly, can be reset in Terminal.
• If you use the the program "Filevault" (Apple), EnScrypt will not work at all. Disable Filevault before running EnScrypt.
• The modules for Microsoft Office (Entourage and Word) are for Office X only. No work has yet been done for Office 2004 (version 11 and later).
• Mac OS X (Tiger and earlier) is required. MacOS 9 is not supported
• At the present time there are no Windows or Unix based EnScrypt modules. Cross platform collaborators are requested.

For encrypting and decrypting, note that EnScrypt requires symmetric passwords. Use the same password in both directions. Hint: using different passwords for different correspondents and in different situations is far more secure than using the same password. Use "EnScrypt_Vault" to store your passwords and login ID's so that you don't need to memorize them.

Installation: After unstuffing the ".sit" file, you will find an "Installer..." application in the EnScrypt application folder. Run the installer. It places the EnScrypt folder into the user's application folder. It also places an alias to the EnScrypt application into the user's Scripts folder located at "Users:UserName:Library:Scripts:" Most users may find it easiest to run EnScrypt from the "Script Menu". If you don't have Script Menu activated, launch the Install Script Menu application located in the AppleScript folder in the Applications folder.

The email and text modules are practical encryption tools on text up to about 200k in size (original text). This might be around 150 pages at normal density. Expect such a file to take about 1 minute to be processed. Normal messages are typically 1 or two pages, and you can expect Enscrypt to process them in about 5 seconds.

• Encrypting: Select a message or open the text window or file to be encrypted, then run the EnScrypt application. It will replace the original with an encryption block beginning with "ENCRYPTION BEGIN:" and ending with ":ENCRYPTION END" . The digital signature will be enclosed in a block of text beginning with "SIGNATURE.BEGIN:" and ending with ":SIGNATURE.END:" Do not subsequently add any text between the colons as it could cause the decryption and/or the signature verification to fail. If encrypting for email, just hit "Send" when the EnScrypt is finished. Otherwise just close the file. Optionally, save the original plain text or the encrypted text into a new file inside a folder called "EnScryptü" which you will have created in your Documents folder.
• Decrypting: Select the message or open the window of the item to be decrypted, then run the EnScrypt application. Make sure that you are using the same exact password as was used to encrypt the message. The password is case-sensitive. The decrypted text will be placed into a new file inside a folder called "EnScryptü" which you will find in your Documents folder.

The file encryption module is much faster than the email/text modules because of the greatly reduced housekeeping chores that the program has to do. EnScrypt_Files can also handle much larger encryptions than the email/text modules, up to about 2 MB (original size). Within its limits, EnScrypt will encrypt or decrypt a file in just a few seconds.

• Encrypting and Decrypting: Just run the application. You will be prompted to select the file you want to encrypt or decrypt. Encrypted files are placed into the their own section of the "EnScryptü" folder. Decrypted files are placed by default into the "Decryptions" section, but you can optionally choose to place them elsewhere. In both directions the new file is given a unique prefix, and the name of the original file is appended to it.

The details of this module are not yet finalized (still under development). The purpose is to store passwords, logins and ANY TEXT MEMORANDUM THAT NEEDS TO BE PRIVATE. The key to EnScrypt_Vault is that all items in its database are secured by a single "master password". Of course if you lose that master password, the data secured by EnScrypt_Vault will be lost.

• Encrypting and Decrypting: Just run the application.

The use of EnScrypt (or any other encryption software) does not produce perfect security. While the "Blowfish" encryption algorithm with a 128 bit key is quite secure, the use of insecure or short or overly simple passwords compromises that security severely. Also, if a dedicated intruder can view your plain text documents and/or discover your passwords, then encryption offers little security. Keep your computer away from potential intruders and you will reduce these risks substantially. As for digital signatures, EnScrypt validates the integrity of the received encrypted text (or file). It does not however authenticate the author of the encrypted text (or file) except to the extent of verifying that he/she was in possession of the right password at the time the encryption was made.

EnScrypt is provided ``AS IS'' and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed.