Ulukai on 11/1/2009 at 20:40
Quote Posted by dvrabel
It's not elitist to say you need to read a book before trying to do something complex
Correct.
What is elitist, is to say "That doesn't work", but not say why and then tell said person that they should leave it to an expert. That's just horrible.
Zombe, I'm well aware what both eggs and the difference between obfuscation and cryptography are, thank you.
The joy of writing your own programs in a subject area you are interested in is a beautiful thing, I would never dissuade anyone from doing it. I'm betting GEP would stop most people's mothers from seeing things you didn't want them to see, so on that count, mission accomplished.
Hands up anyone who entered this thread expecting to start using Rav's program to encrypt corporate database files?
june gloom on 11/1/2009 at 20:43
You people are acting like the OP was hired by the government to create some kind of top-secret encryption program so they can better hide former President Clinton's porn stash or something.
You're right in that if one were serious about the field of security they should go get educated in it, but for God's sakes stop acting like fucking around with encryption as a hobby is bad.
Kolya on 11/1/2009 at 21:34
I planned to encrypt my DNA with it, as a sort of pregnancy prevention.
june gloom on 11/1/2009 at 21:48
I don't think you have to worry.
a flower in hell on 11/1/2009 at 21:53
Quote Posted by dvrabel
No, if you know little about a engineering, scientific or mathematical field (such as cryptography) then you need to
learn about it -- read a book, attend courses or lectures, or ask someone more experienced.
You're an enormous fucking retard. Do you even know what labs are for?
Maybe you're just that awesome, but for some people, hands-on, learning-by-doing is the best way to learn something.
RavynousHunter on 11/1/2009 at 22:07
Quote Posted by dvrabel
I took at look at the source code expecting to find mistakes like failing to lock keys into memory. I didn't expect to find this:
Code:
xor_byte = 0x10
[...]
encode_byte = Convert.ToByte(Convert.ToInt32(ret_char
) ^ xor_byte);
That's not encryption -- it provides absolutely no security at all.
Security is complex field and should only be tackled by competent people.
Actually, the source you're viewing is old. My encryption method is a wee more secure than what's up on the wiki page. I decided not to put up the 1.3 (or 1.3 R1) source yet because it's still something of a work-in-progress.
@Aja: The error you're getting is because some other program is using the document you're trying to encrypt. Make sure that the files being encrypted aren't being used by some other program, in your case the most likely culprit being MS Word. Simply put, Windows doesn't allow a file to be accessed by more than one program at once, or at least under most circumstances it doesn't.
@Morte: Actually, I do use AES in my program, the .Net 3.5 framework has several very good tools to help me implement it. I added some obfuscation in there to add a little extra security.
This is more of a hobby project kind of thing, just something to toy around with, experiment with, and learn the ins and outs of cryptography and obfuscation. Some people learn best with books, some by lectures; I learn best by doing. Sure, I read into a given field somewhat, look up FAQs, papers, and other projects if I'm looking for help or guidance, but I like to do my own thing in lieu of just plunking down with the
Big Book of {insert subject here} and work within the confines of the information given there.
denisv on 11/1/2009 at 22:21
You cannot learn cryptography by coding random little apps. If you think you can, you can go die in a fire, and that's that.
jtr7 on 11/1/2009 at 22:35
The intensity here is profoundly out of proportion. I want to laugh, but I'm fascinated by how serious some of the posts appear to be. Who are you trying to protect? :weird:
RavynousHunter on 11/1/2009 at 22:40
Quote Posted by denisv
You cannot learn cryptography by coding random little apps. If you think you can, you can go die in a fire, and that's that.
How do "expert" cryptographers become "experts?" They read, understood, experimented, tried, tried, and tried again until they got it right. Some of them worked with a chalkboard, some with pen and paper, and some, like me, with computers.
The only way anyone truly learns anything is by
experience, and it is only through that experience, trial and error, that they can become competent. It is only through more experimentation, testing, and hypothesizing, that they can become experts.
You can read, listen, and watch as much as you want, but if you don't
do, you are, by no means an expert or even competent.
From this post, I am reminded of this quote from the Keepers:
"The man who only learns what others know is as ignorant as if he learns nothing. The treasures of knowledge are the most rare, and guarded most harshly."-- Chronicle of the First Age