18 February 2011

Encryption Wizard

The Software Protection Initiative's Encryption Wizard, a project of the Air Force Research Laboratory is a easy, simple file and folder archive and encryption program.


From the Software Protection Initiative site:
Encryption Wizard is a simple, strong, Java file and folder encryptor for protection of sensitive information. Encryption Wizard encrypts all file types for data-at-rest and data-in-transit protection. Without installation or elevated privileges, it runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, and other computers with Sun Java. Behind its simple drag-n-drop interface, EW offers 128-bit AES encryption, SHA-256 hashing, searchable metadata, archives, compression, secure deleting, and PKI/CAC/PIV support. Encryption Wizard is GOTS - Government invented, owned, and supported software.


Here's an easy way to set it up on Ubuntu so that it will launch from the menu.
  • Download the .zip file and extract it to a location of your choice. I put it in ~/.encwiz on my personal machine.
  • Install Java. I have the JDK, package sun-java6-jdk from the lucid-main repository. It will work with the standard JRE but I haven't tested it.
  • You can right-click on the .jar file you extracted, select "Properties" and the "Open With" tab. There, pick Java to get the file to open and run correctly. Otherwise it will open with the archive manager.
  • Open your Main Menu from the Settings > Preferences menu.
  • Create a new launcher in the location of your choice and pick "Application in Terminal" and name it what you like.
  • Enter the command:
gnome-terminal --geometry=60x14 --hide-menubar -t 'Encryption Wizard' -x java -jar /home/jcollierdavis/.encwiz/encrypt_wizard.jar
  • This will open a terminal window just big enough for the text inside it, with no menu, titled "Encryption Wizard" and execute the command to launch encryption wizard with Java.
When you click the launcher on your menu a terminal window will open and start the Encryption Wizard. When you're finished with the Wizard, closing either the terminal or the Wizard will close the other.

For some reason, this is the only way I could get it to work from the launcher. If you have a better method, please share.

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