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ENIGMA(1)              DragonFly General Commands Manual             ENIGMA(1)


NAME

     enigma, crypt -- very simple file encryption


SYNOPSIS

     enigma [-s] [-k] [password]
     crypt [-s] [-k] [password]


DESCRIPTION

     The enigma utility, also known as crypt is a very simple encryption pro-
     gram, working on a ``secret-key'' basis.  It operates as a filter, i. e.
     it encrypts or decrypts a stream of data from standard input, and writes
     the result to standard output.  It automatically detects whether the
     input data stream is already encrypted, and switches into decryption mode
     in this case.

     There are several ways to provide the secret key to the program.  By
     default, the program prompts the user on the controlling terminal for the
     key, using getpass(3).  This is the only safe way of providing it.

     Alternatively, the key can be provided as the sole command-line argument
     password when starting the program.  Obviously, this way the key can eas-
     ily be spotted by other users running ps(1).  As yet another alternative,
     enigma can be given the option -k, and it will take the key from the
     environment variable CrYpTkEy.  While this at a first glance seems to be
     more secure than the previous option, it actually isn't since environment
     variables can also be examined with ps(1).  Thus this option is mainly
     provided for compatibility with other implementations of enigma.

     When specifying the option -s, enigma modifies the encryption engine in a
     way that is supposed to make it a little more secure, but incompatible
     with other implementations.

   Warning
     The cryptographic value of enigma is rather small.  This program is only
     provided here for compatibility with other operating systems that also
     provide an implementation.  For real encryption, refer to bdes(1) (from
     the DES distribution package), or pgp(1) (from the dports(7) collection).
     However, restrictions for exporting, importing or using such tools might
     exist in some countries, so those stronger programs are not being shipped
     as part of the operating system by default.


ENVIRONMENT

           CrYpTkEy    used to obtain the secret key when option -k has been
                       given


EXAMPLES

           man enigma | enigma > encrypted
           Enter key: (XXX -- key not echoed)

     This will create an encrypted form of this man page, and store it in the
     file `encrypted'.

           enigma XXX < encrypted

     This displays the previously created file on the terminal.


SEE ALSO

     bdes(1), pgp(1) (security/pgp), ps(1), getpass(3)


HISTORY

     Implementations of crypt are very common among UNIX operating systems.
     This implementation has been taken from the Cryptbreakers Workbench which
     is in the public domain.

DragonFly 3.5                  October 30, 1998                  DragonFly 3.5

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