Cipher Image let’s you hide plain text inside photos, a process known as steganography, it can hide messages of up to 64Kb in size, quite a few pages of information, the text has to be typed into the program, Cipher Image can not hide attached files. The data is hidden by replacing image pixels that are similar to each other making it unnoticeable to the human eye, the messages are encrypted using 128-bit, there is no mention of the algorithm used for this, images can be saved in 7 different file formats (jpeg, Gif, Tiff, Paintbrush, Windows Bitmap and OS/2 Bitmap), the included password generator can produce a random pass, it is not configurable and I did not find it useful as it will be impossible to remember whichever pass it produces, there is the option of saving the password in a .txt file but I would not advise it if the data is important.
Cipher Image steganography software
You will get tooltips with instructions when you hoover your mouse over the buttons, make sure to read them as the interface is not very intuitive it is easy to get lost, I would classify this tool as an adequate steganography program for low security stuff, mainly because it is not open source, the developers are not well known and the password generator is quite lousy, my only concern was encryption about which there is little information other than to say it uses 128bit, but people really won’t be able to spot any hidden text and that is what steganography is about, ideal to deliver secret messages using your Flickr or Picasa account, if you haven’t got any security agency going after you this program will get the covert communications job done.
Bitvise Tunnelier is a highly configurable Windows SSH client supporting TCP/IP tunnelling, in between others, it can be used as alternative to PuTTY for port forwarding for anonymous Internet browsing hiding your computer IP and getting around filters, there is integrated support for HTTP and Socks proxies, auto-reconnect, graphical SFTP with passive and active mode, FTP to SFTP bridge, client to server/server to client port forwarding, enabling/disabling encryption algorithms for SSH sessions, and saving of profiles. Terminal emulation supports vt100, xterm and bvterm terminals, the most common protocols in SSH servers, there is colour support for xterm and bvterm, RSA/DSA public key authentication, scriptable with a command line remote execution client.
Optionally you can use Tunnelier in command line mode, this is normally use by IT administrators, it comes with flexible command lines able to load profiles on launching, it can be run in portable mode preventing any Windows registry changes. A .paf (PortableApps) and U3 (proprietary format specially designed for flash drives with the U3 Launchpad) portable Tunnelier made by users is available, though not supported by Bitvise.
Bitvise Tunnelier SSH client
The makers of this software also develop WinSSHD (a Windows SSH server), Bitvise Tunnelier comes with features to remotely control it, Tunnelier supports speeds of up to 5 MB/s when connected to a WinSSHD server. If you are wondering how you could use this software to browse the Internet or access your email through an encrypted tunnel, be aware you will need an SSH server for that, Tunnelier is the tool that will allow you to connect to the tunnel just like OpenVPN software is the tool to allow you to connect to a VPN server.
To get access to a SSH server for port forwarding, set up your own at home on a Windows computer with something like MobaSSH (not very difficult), learn Unix command line (advanced) and get a VPS, or find an SSH tunnel provider. I have used KiTTY and PuTTY to create SSH tunnels for Internet browsing and they both worked fine, but for high configuration and a nice GUI (interface), Tunnelier can not be beaten.
Note: Bitvise Tunnelier is free for personal use and limited use inside organizations.
Idoo file encryption can lock, hide and encrypt files using AES256, you will be prompted to enter the masterpassword after installation, and optionally, an email address to recover your password in case you forget it. You can lock and hide files using the interface, but not single file encryption, this can only be done through Windows context menu, I used it to encrypt a file and it did not ask me to confirm my password, you will have to be very careful what you type if it is a long passphrase, I would advise you to tick the box to see the password you are entering and do not use asterisks.
Hiding a couple of photos worked fine, Windows was unable to see them, however, specialist computer forensics software, of the kind used by law enforcement and well funded investigators should be able to discover them, to make the photos or files visible again all that is needed is unchecking a tickbox. File write protection stopped me from erasing files where it had been applied, not even using administrator rights I was able to get around it, Idoo file encryption is fairly easy to use and you have an online help manual with screenshots.
This tool saves encrypted files as .gfl but you can choose to use a .exe extension to be able to decrypt them without the software, files can securely wiped after use and you can use it to hide drive letters, like an external plugged in device, but I doubt this will be of use for a home user who isn’t on a network.
Idoo file encryption free version
I am very concerned about the password recovery feature, I used it once and I was sent my password in plain text to my email Inbox, this indicates to me that the password must be available in plain text somewhere, normally, encryption software never stores a readable password, it uses a hash algorithm instead, Idoo file encryption did not inspire me confidence due to this. I have nothing against password recovery but not this way, a good example of password recovery done right is SpiderOak, they email a password hint that the user has previously set himself, but not the full password in plain text as nobody has access to it.
The developers website comparison in between the Free and Pro version mentions that the Free version is good enough for company documents and the Pro version for Government agencies and financial data, in reality the level of encryption it is exactly the same, the only difference is that the Pro version can encrypt folders, their comparison is not quite right, adding that their password recovery in plain text really blows me away, unless you only want to protect from your little niece spying on you, I wouldn’t waste my time with this product, lets alone any money.
Update February 20117: I have deleted the link to IdooEncryption as it is being reported by Firefox as containing malware. Site does not look updated either, no mention of Windows 10.
Qualys Browsercheck is an online test run by a vulnerability assessment company (Qualys) that scans your Internet browser version and outdated plugins after visiting their website. In order to perform a security analysis you will be asked to install a browser plugin available for IE, Firefox and Chrome, that will show complete information about installed applications, like path and associated files. If you do not wish to install Qualys plugin you can opt for a quick online scan with limited information running in your browser, this will only check for browser version, Flash, Shockwave and Java.
The results are neatly presented with an easy to understand colour code, if something has been found to be outdated you will be given a link to the official site from where to download an updated patched version of the software. After the updates have been applied you should rescan your Internet browser again to make sure everything went smoothly.
Qualys Browsercheck security test
If you can not update one of the vulnerable plugins installed in your browser, it is possible to disable them going into browser settings. The vsecurity test (with the browser plugin) includes the most used applications, like Adobe Flash Player, Sun Java, Shockwave, Apple Quicktime, Real Player, Adobe Reader and Windows Media Player together with inherent OS software like security updates, firewall and antivirus. Qualys security check plugin only works when you visit their Browsercheck website, you can uninstall it once you are done with it.
The vulnerability test is also available for mobile devices like Android, iPhone and iPad as well as little known browsers like K-Meleon, Sleipnir, MineField and Maxthon. A BrowserCheck business edition with a unique URL for company employees allows network administrators to view detailed user browser vulnerabilities in the network. Data collected by Qualys in these security test is anonymized and statistically released showing which are the most outdated plugins on the Internet, according to this data, Java appears to be the most likely application to be run outdated, hence exposed to hacking attacks.
Advanced Onion Router is a free portable tor proxy server and client for the Onion Routing network, a distributed proxy network run by volunteers designed to anonymize traffic and bypass Internet filters. Advanced Onion Router is meant to be an all in one application replacement for the classic Tor+Vidalia+Privoxy Windows bundle, highly configurable, it can fake your browser headers and operating system, as well as the computer regional settings which can be used to pinpoint your location by looking at something like local time.
There is support for encrypted SSL connections, Socks4/5, corporate NTLM (NT Lan Manager) proxies, banning of addresses and routers, plugin support, hotkeys, multilingual, circuit length can be determined from 1 up to a chain of 10 proxies with priorities set, separate browsing profiles can be set by erasing identities cookies and creating new fake browser and operating system headers. You can use this tool to help the onion routing network donating some bandwidth for others or host your own hidden service, it only requires some easy re-configuration to make sure that your real location is not revealed and create your own .onion address. A tor hidden service is a way to host your own content making it impossible for a Government or powerful enemy to take it down.
Advanced Onion Router tor proxy
Advanced Onion Router lets you add your favourite program to a list making sure that when you start it all traffic will be forced through a tor proxy tunnel, each program can have its own separate settings running inside a sandbox. Configuration files can be encrypted using AES, adding another layer of security against noisy people, even better is the read only mode, where you can run this portable tor proxy from read only media, like a CD-Rom, and no personal data (history, cookies, etc) will be stored anywhere.
Secure Profile is a Google Chrome addon that allows you set up a password to protect your entire Goggle Chrome profile, this is much better than other Chrome privacy addons like Link Password, which only encrypts your bookmarks. After entering a password inside Secure Profile options, before anybody can use your browser they will have to enter the password too, this extension can be used to stop people from using your Internet browser. Different profiles can be set up, all of them with a different password.
You could use one profile/personality to visit certain sites, like news, and switch to a different profile for sites like porn, the advantage would be that tracking cookies on that specific profile will be isolated from others.
Google Chrome Secure Profile addon
This addon also protects your browser in Incognito mode when Google Chrome runs in RAM. It could be of use when sharing a computer at home to make sure everyone has their own settings and cookies, this is an easy solution to stop a noisy person from looking at your browser settings and history.
A cryptographic hash function is a one-way computational mathematical operation (aka checksum or digest) that takes a stream of data and returns a fix sized bit string known as cryptographic hash value, this value is unique, any small modification to the file will change it, for example, modifying a single pixel on a photograph will not be noticeable by the human eye but a cryptographic hashing of the picture will return value differing from the original.
Cryptographic hashing algorithms are widely used in computer forensics to guarantee that files have not been tampered with, it can be compared to a digital fingerprint, security related software and Linux distributions normally come with a hash value, the user is meant to use a special program to calculate a hash value resulting from file he has just downloaded and make sure that it coincides with the string listed by the developer, if it doesn’t it means that the file been changed by someone or accidental data corruption occurred during the download, when two files have the same cryptographic hash value it is guaranteed that they are identical.
Hash function diagram
Hashing a file does not mean to encrypt it, cryptographic algorithms used for encryption are totally different from those used for hashing files, encryption software like Truecrypt, gives two algorithm choices, one for encrypting the data and another to hash the user keyfile or password. Another use of cryptographic hashes is password storage, encryption software does not store user passwords in plain text, it creates a cryptographic function of a password, when the user wants to decrypt the data the software performs that operation again, if the cryptographic hashes coincide it then decrypts everything.
SSL certificates contain a cryptographic hash to show its uniqueness, certification authorities use a hash algorithm to generate a certificate signature. Hashing algorithms can also be used to compare text, if the values coincide it assures content integrity this guarantees the receiver that the message has not been tampered with, in addition it is impossible to recreate the original message out of a hash string.
Note: Flaws have been found in the MD5 algorithm, The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) considers the MD5 algorithm broken and unsuitable for use, the MD5 hashing algorithm should not be used in SSL certificates and digital signatures. Most U.S. government applications require SHA-2 hash functions (SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512), SHA-2 has been designed by the National Security Agency (NSA) and stands for Secure Hashing Algorithm.
Cryptographic hashes and law enforcement
Law enforcement agencies and RIAA sponsored investigators use hashing algorithms to track down those sharing illegal files in P2P networks, in the case of law enforcement, when they seize child pornography images, they automatically hash photos and videos storing the hash strings on a database,these unique values are compared with the cryptohashes of other previously seized files to see if it matches any of them.
There are USB thumbdrives that can be plugged into a computer to scan its hard disk in search of files whose unique hashing algorithm matches one of the child pornography files previously seized, in a matter of minutes and without visually looking at the content law enforcement personnel can detect this kind of material, the same automatic software helps law enforcement to classify these images, when a new image not in the hashing database is found the software marks it for manual inspection to assess it.
Law enforcement also owns specialist software that analyses P2P networks attempting to match a cryptographic hash file to one of those in their database of banned child pornography images, with very little supervision it is possible to detect child pornography, once a file has been flagged it is brought to the attention of an officer to start the process of tracking down the IP and gathering further evidence, the only flaw this has is that if someone modifies one of those photos using a graphics editor giving it a little more/less brightness, then the cryptographic files will not coincide. Software like ssdeep attempts to plug that gap by using a technique known as fuzzy hashing, this method can match cryptographic hashes of very similar files, if someone changes a single bit on a file, it would still pick it up, extreme file changes would not, the same technique can be used to detect similar malware files.
RIAA sponsored companies can use cryptographic files to track down people sharing copyrighted material on P2P networks too, during their evidence gathering they will include a file hash value, if the case ever goes to court, after seizing the user’s computer, that unique hash string compared with the files in the computer will be solid evidence of guilt. Computer forensics software like Encase can create a cryptographic function of a computer hard disk as proof that the data not been tampered with when that hard disk gets to court or defence attorney.
P2P network diagram
In order to make it more difficult for intellectual rights owners to prosecute violators, a new peer to peer system using Distributed Hash Table (DHT) to defeat automatic tracking systems has been implemented in BitTorrent and eMule (changing default settings is needed), instead of names, DHT uses hashing algorithms to index files, it makes it harder for the user to find the files he wants but adds an extra layer of privacy to filesharing, although not enough to make it impossible to track the infringer, DHT does not hide an individual’s identity.
List of free hash and checksum calculators
To cryptographically hash a file you will need to obtain special software to do that, select the file you would like to hash, from a 1bit file up to a full hard disk, choose the algorithm of your choice and hash it, the same software can also allow you to verify that hashing algorithms coincide (aka integrity check). If you do not want to download software, websites like Hashemall allow you to compute hashes online.
FeeBooti: This free cryptographic hash value generator can computer all the common hashing algorithms (CRC32, MD5, Whirlpool, RipeMD160, SHA512, etc), simple to use interface, file integrity checksum for files of unlimited sizes, simultaneous checksum calculation using different algorithms, it copies hash values to Windows clipboard and integrates into windows property pages.
Multihasher: Portable hash value calculator supporting CRC32, MD5, SHA1,SHA256,SHA384 and SHA512. It can be used for hash file verification and upload files to VirusTotal querying its database to find out if the file is malware. Multihasher integrates with Windows Explorer context menu, supports Unicode characters, file drag and drop and much more.
Free checksum tool MultiHasher
HashGenerator: Beginner friendly application that can be installed or used as portable, to generate a hash file you simply right click on it using the context menu options or use the drag and drop feature. It computes 14 different type of checksums and can export a list of hashes to an HTML or .txt file.
MD5Deep: Command line open source hashing tool for Windows, it can be compiled for other systems like Linux and BSD, MD5Deep can compute MD5, SHA-1, SHA256, Tiger and Whirlpool message digests, it can process regular files or block devices, it can recursively dig through the directory structure. This tool is best avoided by beginners.
