Encipher

The encipher command-line utility converts plaintext to ciphertext.

Example Usage

We list a few examples of the encipher command here to illustrate its usefulness and ease of use. To get started, lets encrypt a text file:

  encipher -verbose README.txt README.cip

The attributes are displayed and looks like this:

Filename: README.cip
  Cipher:
    type: AES
    mode: CTR
    nonce: 85b5546f57c760620000000000000000
  Authenticate:
    method: Secret
  Key:
    hash: SHA256
    length: 512
    session: b69f10215a7b65043faa45443017a8fccacecdd04073d1b9895bdd3a5eb8ace1
  Entropy Generator:
    type: BZip
    level: 6
  Keyed-Hashed Message Authentication Code:
    hash: SHA256
  Random Generator:
    hash: SHA256
  Chunksize: 8kb
  Dates:
    modify: 2009-01-19T20:41:19-05:00
    create: 2009-01-23T15:10:47-05:00
    timestamp: 2009-01-23T15:13:44-05:00
  Protocol: 1.0
  Version: WizardsToolkit 1.0.6 01/23/08 http://urban-warrior.org

Here Bob enciphers a message destinated for Alice. To restore the message content, Alice must know the secret key and also have a copy of Bob's private keyring:

  encipher -keyring ./keyring.xdm message.txt secret-message.cip

To ensure your ciphertext is not easily revealed, the encipher program takes these precautions:

Passphrase

If your command line does not include the -passphrase filename option, the passphrase is interactively requested and has a maximum length of 4096 characters and symbols. The phrase can be virtually unlimited if obtained from a file. Try to make your passphrases long and unpredictable.

Keyring

Your secret key is stored in a password-protected private keyring. If you lose your keyring, it is impossible to restore your original message content.

Entropy

If the encipher program appears to halt it may be waiting for your system to generate entropy. Move your mouse or press keystrokes in another window. Once enough entropy is generated, the encipher program will complete.

Exceptions

If simple mistakes are made, an exception message is displayed. For example if you use '-cpher' instead of '-cipher', cipher complains. However, if anything goes wrong inside the cipher engine, the program exits with a simple status code. This precaution is to prevent information leaks about the encipher process.

Option Summary

The encipher command recognizes these options. Click on an option to get more details about how that option works.

Option	Description
-authenticate method	authenticate with this method: Secret or Public
-chunksize bytes	number of bytes in a chunk
-cipher type	cipher to encrypt content
-debug events	display copious debugging information
-(de)compress	automagically (de)compress BZIP and ZIP files
-entropy type	increase content entropy
-help	print program options
-hmac hash	ensure message integrity with this hash
-key hash	strengthen the key with this hash
-key-length value	cipher key length in bits: 256, 512, 1024, or 2048
-keyring filename	get private key from this keyring
-level value	entropy level: 1 (less entropy) to 9 (more entropy)
-list type	print a list of supported option arguments
-log format	format of debugging information
-mode type	mode of encryption
-passphrase filename	get the passphrase from this file
-properties filename	cipher properties to/from this file
-random hash	strengthen random data with this hash
-true-random	strengthen enciphering with true random numbers
-verbose	print detailed information about the secure content
-version	print version information