Copyright: Copyright ® 1998 Will Software GmbH


  Contents

About SecurityManager 99

Using the Program

Choosing Passwords

Troubleshooting

SecurityManager 99 for Windows® 95, 98 and NT

Copyright © 1996-1999 by HILCHNER & LESANI Verlag GmbH

Brought to you by ASHAMPOO

Felix-Wankel-Str. 16

26125 Oldenburg

Germany

Programmed by Will Software GmbH

(All rights reserved)

Email:     support@ashampoo.de

Fax:        +49 441 93379 79

Web:      http://www.ashampoo.com


  About SecurityManager 99

SecurityManager 99 is a powerful application for encrypting individual files and the contents of entire folders using the DES method (Data Encryption Standard).

SecurityManager 99 is very secure: When data is encrypted the original files are automatically overwritten, making it impossible to restore their contents with file utilities.

SecurityManager 99 is also extremely fast. Programmed entirely in 32-bit code and utilizing special processor instructions that have been available since the 80486 generation it achieves performance comparable to that of hardware encryption systems.


  Choosing Passwords

If you want safe encryption you need a safe password. The first step is to choose a password which cannot be guessed easily by someone else.

This means you should avoid all obvious passwords like pass, password, genius, hacker, any common Christian names or other obvious words. These are the first things anyone who wants to hack your data will try and they provide very little real protection!

Generally, you should observe the following basic rules when choosing a safe password:

1) The password should be between 4 and 16 characters long.

2) It's a good idea to choose a password made up of a combination of letters and numbers like GO 1234 WEST. Completely meaningless words like KRX13NBN_X15 are also very good because they are almost impossible to "guess". Unfortunately, they are also easy to forget, so don't use this approach if you don't really trust your own memory. (Writing your password down is NOT a good idea!)

A way around this problem is to use the first character of the words in a sentence that's easy for you to remember, such as IWIWFTICBHAB for "I Wish It Was Friday Then I Could Be Having A Ball." Of course, now that this sentence has been published in this help file you shouldn't use it! It's also not such a good idea to use the letters from standard sentences like "The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog" or "I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas".

3) Many screen savers and other applications that support passwords store the passwords in plain text form on your hard disk. NEVER use the same password for these applications and for encrypting important files! Data thieves know that people like using the same passwords for everything!

IMPORTANT:

SecurityManager 99 uses case-sensitive passwords! This means that Smeagol3, smeagol3 and SmeAGol3 are all different passwords!


Using SecMan
  Using SecurityManager 99

When you start SecurityManager 99 you will be prompted to enter your User Name and Password:

If the user name is unknown the program will assume that you are registering a new user and will prompt you to re-enter the user name and password for confirmation. This registers you in the User File and the next time you start SecurityManager you will not need to repeat the entry.

DIRE AND VERY SERIOUS WARNING:

If you forget your password you will not be able to access your encrypted data! SecurityManager does not have any "Supervisor mode" for decrypting user data or any back doors for accessing encrypted data. This is the price of maximum security: No password, no data. It's that simple.

After you have logged in successfully the main program window shown below will be displayed.

Click on the screenshot below for help on the various elements of the program (help is available for all elements where the mouse cursor turns into a hand icon):

The operation of SecurityManager is similar to that of standard Windows programs like the Windows Explorer.

You can select groups of files and folders with the mouse and encrypt or decrypt them all together in a single pass.

File selection operations:

- Select single files by left-clicking or pressing the Ins key.

- To select all files press Ctrl + A.

- Press "+" on the numeric keypad to enter a selection argument using wildcard characters (e.g. *.doc or john??.*).

- Press "-" on the numeric keypad to cancel the current file selection.

- Press "*" on the numeric keypad to invert the current file selection.

Once you have selected some files you can then encrypt them by clicking on the Encrypt icon in the toolbar or pressing Ctrl + E.

Encrypted files are identified by the SecurityManager 99 symbol displayed over their icons in the main screen. In Details view the owner of the encrypted file (i.e. the registered user who encrypted the file) is shown in the Owner column. The owner of unencrypted files is shown as Everybody.

To decrypt encrypted files just select them as described above and click on the Decrypt icon in the toolbar or press Ctrl + D.


  The User File Secman.dat

The user names and passwords are stored in a securely encrypted file called Secman.dat.

When a you log in the program checks your entries against the data stored in this file.

If Secman.dat is deleted you can still access your encrypted data but all users will have to re-enter their names and passwords twice the next time they log in.


  Selecting Files

Pressing the "+" key on the numeric keypad displays the following dialog box with which you can enter a file selection argument using wildcard characters:

For example, *.doc would select all files with the extension .doc, and mytext??.txt would select all files with the extension .txt whose names consist of eight characters beginning with "mytext" (e.g. mytext01.txt, mytextxx.txt).


Drive

This list displays the drives installed on your computer and enables you to select the drive you want to display in the SecurityManager 99 window.


Directory Tree

The complete directory tree of your hard disk. Double-clicking on a folder icon in the tree opens the folder and displays its contents in the right hand window.


  Toolbar

All SecurityManager 99's main functions can be executed directly by clicking on the icons in the toolbar.

For an explanation of the individual functions just click on the corresponding icons in the screenshot below:


Encrypt (Ctrl-E)


Decrypt (Ctrl-D)


Select Files (Num "+")
Select Files ("+")


Deselect files (Num "-")
Deselect Files ("-")


Invert Current Selection (Num "*")
Invert Current Selection ("*")


Large Icons View


Small Icons View


List View


Details View


Help


Name

Clicking in this field sorts the files by name.


Size

Clicking in this field sorts the files by size.


Modified

Clicking in this field sorts the files by the last modification date.


Owner

Clicking in this field sorts the files by owner.


Folder Contents

SecurityManager 99's right hand window shows the contents of the folder currently selected in the directory tree on the left.

Encrypted files are identified by the SecurityManager 99 symbol displayed over their icons and user name of the file's owner (i.e. the user who encrypted the file) in the Owner column in Details view.


  User Name

When you start SecurityManager 99 you must enter your user name and password to log in. SecurityManager then verifies your entries by comparing them with the data in the encrypted User File.

This prevents unauthorized access to the program, providing an additional level of security.

If the user name is unknown the program will assume that you are registering a new user and will prompt you to re-enter the user name and password for confirmation.

User names must have a minimum of 2 characters and a maximum of 16 characters.


  Troubleshooting

1) When you try to encrypt files you get the error message "Unable to perform operation!"

This message is displayed when the file you want to encrypt is being used exclusively by another application (e.g. WinWord). Simply close the file and/or the application and try again.

You can also get this type of error message if you attempt to encrypt files that are write-protected, for example on a network drive.

2) When attempting to decrypt a file you get the message "You don't have permission to access file xx!"

Switch to Details View and check in the Owner column to see whether you are the owner of the file (i.e. whether you are the person who encrypted it). SecurityManager 99 will not allow you to decrypt other user's files!

3) When you try to encrypt a group of files you get a message saying that there is not enough disk space available to encrypt the files.

If this happens select fewer files and try again. Alternatively, you can also make more space on your hard disk by deleting files you don't need.


Title Bar

The name of the program and the current user are displayed in the title bar.