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Text File  |  1990-09-03  |  17KB  |  213 lines
  1.  
  2.                                                                               
  3.   Cloak: Data Encryption from Thunderhead Software                Page: 1     
  4.   P.O. Box 91, McKeesport, Pa., USA, 15135   (412) 751-4020                   
  5.                                                                               
  6.                                  Cloak                                        
  7.                                                                               
  8.   This program is being distributed as Freeware by  Thunderhead  Soft-        
  9.   ware, Inc.  You may distribute it freely, and use it without fees or        
  10.   'reminders' that Shareware/Begware often throws at you.                     
  11.                                                                               
  12.   I do request that you do NOT modify any of the files, or re-pack the        
  13.   archive file.  I KNOW there are better archivers out there,but there        
  14.   are also HACKERS and VIRUS-distributors around, and I don't want any        
  15.   of my programs involved in those messes.                                    
  16.                                                                               
  17.   Thunderhead Software is a small software company in McKeesport, Pen-        
  18.   nsylvania, in the United States, which sells commercial software for        
  19.   a variety of uses.  I have enclosed a copy of our August, 1990 cata-        
  20.   log for your perusal.                                                       
  21.                                                                               
  22.   If you have questions, comments, or orders,PLEASE FEEL FREE TO WRITE        
  23.   US at:                                                                      
  24.                                                                               
  25.                                                                               
  26.   Cloak: Data Encryption from Thunderhead Software                Page: 2     
  27.   P.O. Box 91, McKeesport, Pa., USA, 15135   (412) 751-4020                   
  28.                                                                               
  29.                                                                               
  30.                        Thunderhead Software, Inc.                             
  31.                        P.O. Box 91                                            
  32.                        McKeesport, Pa. 15135                                  
  33.                                                                               
  34.                                                                               
  35.                                                                               
  36.                                  DISCLAIMER                                   
  37.                                                                               
  38.        The  author of this program warrants that this program will run on     
  39.   his computer when he uses it.   No further warranties exist in relation     
  40.   to this product,  stated or implied, on the part of the author.   There     
  41.   is no warranty  of suitability or fitness for a particular purpose, nor     
  42.   is there a warranty  of merchantability.  The author is not responsible     
  43.   for damages, direct or indirect, that arise as a consequence of the use     
  44.   or misuse of this product.  This includes, but is not limited to damage     
  45.   to other software, data, and hardware, and claims by other parties.         
  46.                                                                               
  47.                                                                               
  48.                                                                               
  49.   Cloak: Data Encryption from Thunderhead Software                Page: 3     
  50.   P.O. Box 91, McKeesport, Pa., USA, 15135   (412) 751-4020                   
  51.                                                                               
  52.                                                                               
  53.                                                                               
  54.               Cloak: A self-inverting data encryption process.                
  55.                                                                               
  56.        This program was written by Richard Parker.  This is the latest        
  57.   'Freeware', package, with logic number 8462. This package is a small        
  58.   hint at what the REAL (commercial) Crypt is like.                           
  59.                                                                               
  60.        What is data encryption? Data encryption is an added measure of        
  61.   security  that  you can add to your confidential files. It  will NOT        
  62.   prevent others with access to your computer from changing or erasing        
  63.   your information. What it DOES is prevent others from  UNDERSTANDING        
  64.   your data, and making sense out of it. The file can be read, but the        
  65.   contents will be meaningless garbage to unauthorized personnel. Only        
  66.   a person with this particular Cloak package (#8462), AND your  pass-        
  67.   word will be able to return the file to it's normal state.                  
  68.                                                                               
  69.        What is a self-inverting data encryption process?  The simplest        
  70.                                                                               
  71.                                                                               
  72.   Cloak: Data Encryption from Thunderhead Software                Page: 4     
  73.   P.O. Box 91, McKeesport, Pa., USA, 15135   (412) 751-4020                   
  74.                                                                               
  75.   method of data encryption:  you use the same  program to encrypt and        
  76.   decrypt the  file.  This  provides  a  safe,  reversible  method  of        
  77.   securing  your  data.  Other  systems  require  2  or  more programs        
  78.   to  encode  your  data,  which  can  lead to disaster when the wrong        
  79.   program is used at the wrong time.                                          
  80.                                                                               
  81.        You will find a copy of this file called  'guess.me'   on  this        
  82.   diskette. Try to read it. Use your word processor, or the dos 'type'        
  83.   command.  Try any means you can think of to decipher it. Chances are        
  84.   you wouldn't have any idea what the contents are, unless you had the        
  85.   Cloak program AND the password I used to encrypt the program.               
  86.                                                                               
  87.        The password I used was "Thunderhead" with no spaces. Passwords        
  88.   may  be  1 to 78  characters long,  with six  significant characters.       
  89.   Which six?   That's part of the secret:  the significant  characters        
  90.   change depending on the length  of  the  password, so in most cases,        
  91.   only the exact password will decrypt the file.  (By Comparison,  the        
  92.   commercial versions use 6 - 24 significant characters, meaning  that        
  93.                                                                               
  94.                                                                               
  95.   Cloak: Data Encryption from Thunderhead Software                Page: 5     
  96.   P.O. Box 91, McKeesport, Pa., USA, 15135   (412) 751-4020                   
  97.                                                                               
  98.   there are many more different ways to encrypt a file.)                      
  99.                                                                               
  100.        Cloak will ask you for two filenames:  the file to be encrypted        
  101.   and the output file.  This should be self-explanatory.  To decrypt a        
  102.   file,  you  simply  encrypt  it with the  same password a secod time.       
  103.   Case in point, to decrypt the 'guess.me' file, the source file  would       
  104.   be 'guess.me' and the target file would be 'original.txt' or whatever       
  105.   filename you wish.  The password is, again, "Thunderhead".   You  may       
  106.   tell Cloak this in either of two ways:                                      
  107.                                                                               
  108.        Cloak guess.me original.txt Thunderhead                                
  109.                                                                               
  110.        or                                                                     
  111.                                                                               
  112.        Cloak, and then answer the questions appropriately.                    
  113.        file to be encrypted: guess.me                                         
  114.        output file: original.txt                                              
  115.        password: Thunderhead                                                  
  116.                                                                               
  117.                                                                               
  118.   Cloak: Data Encryption from Thunderhead Software                Page: 6     
  119.   P.O. Box 91, McKeesport, Pa., USA, 15135   (412) 751-4020                   
  120.                                                                               
  121.                                                                               
  122.                                                                               
  123.        After the process is done, Cloak will ask if you wish to  erase        
  124.   the source file.  BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS FEATURE!  Cloak'S  ERASE        
  125.   FEATURE CANNOT BE  UNDONE!  MS-DOS unerase utilities, including  the        
  126.   Norton  Commander, and  PC-Tools  can NOT effectively un-erase files        
  127.   erased by the Cloak program. It's best to answer N to this question,        
  128.   and use the dos  erase or  delete  command until you are comfortable        
  129.   with this program.                                                          
  130.                                                                               
  131.        How did I encrypt the file originally?  I simply typed:                
  132.                                                                               
  133.        Cloak readme.doc guess.me Thunderhead                                  
  134.                                                                               
  135.        If you wish to try this, keep  two things in  mind:  all  files        
  136.   should be in the current dos directory, and the output file must not        
  137.   exist before running Cloak.                                                 
  138.                                                                               
  139.                                                                               
  140.                                                                               
  141.   Cloak: Data Encryption from Thunderhead Software                Page: 7     
  142.   P.O. Box 91, McKeesport, Pa., USA, 15135   (412) 751-4020                   
  143.                                                                               
  144.         Too simple?  Afraid someone might guess your  password?  There        
  145.   is a solution.  Run the Cloak program more than once, and use  diff-        
  146.   erent passwords.  Example:                                                  
  147.                                                                               
  148.        Cloak readme.doc readme.2 Thunderhead                                  
  149.        Cloak readme.2 readme.3 RFParker                                       
  150.        Cloak readme.3 readme.4 wow                                            
  151.                                                                               
  152.        Now erase readme.doc,  readme.2, and  readme.3.   The  readme.4        
  153.   file cannot be decrypted unless you do the exact same thing:                
  154.                                                                               
  155.        Cloak readme.4 readme.3 wow                                            
  156.        Cloak readme.3 readme.2 RFParker                                       
  157.        Cloak readme.2 readme.doc Thunderhead                                  
  158.                                                                               
  159.        Change a step,  forget a step,  or misspell a password, and the        
  160.   data is history. This program is so powerful that I, the author, can        
  161.   not decrypt an encrypted file without both the logic  number and the        
  162.                                                                               
  163.                                                                               
  164.   Cloak: Data Encryption from Thunderhead Software                Page: 8     
  165.   P.O. Box 91, McKeesport, Pa., USA, 15135   (412) 751-4020                   
  166.                                                                               
  167.   actual password used.  ( In  actuality, the  shareware release takes        
  168.   under 10,000 PC-Hours to break. The commercial releases take 59,000,        
  169.   125,000, and infinitely many hours, respectively.)  Remember,  also,        
  170.   that you can not unerase a file  that  Cloak  erases,  so be careful        
  171.   with that function until you are sure  of yourself, and can remember        
  172.   your exact password or passwords.                                           
  173.                                                                               
  174.   Statistics of 7 August 1990 release of (Shareware) Cloak @ 8462:            
  175.                                                                               
  176.   Test machine: STI-286-12 multispeed machine:                                
  177.           Turbo: 12 MHz with a Norton Computing Index of 13.7                 
  178.           Slow: 8 MHz with a Norton Computing Index of 9.0                    
  179.           Hard Drive: 40 Meg ST-251 with W.D. AT-style controller             
  180.               Norton Disk Index of 2.5 in either speed mode                   
  181.                                                                               
  182.   Test file: a: old wp program file: 274,384 bytes long                       
  183.                 ( ed.exe from pc-write 3.0.1)                                 
  184.                                                                               
  185.                                                                               
  186.                                                                               
  187.   Cloak: Data Encryption from Thunderhead Software                Page: 9     
  188.   P.O. Box 91, McKeesport, Pa., USA, 15135   (412) 751-4020                   
  189.                                                                               
  190.   Cloak.exe: 30,752 bytes long at 03:16: pkzip csum: bcb55792                 
  191.                                                                               
  192.                                                                               
  193.   Test            Mean Turbo      Mean Slow     CPS Turbo     CPS Slow        
  194.                     (sec)           (sec)        (C/sec)      (C/sec)         
  195.   ---------------------------------------------------------------------       
  196.   copy a b           5.93            5.99        46,270        45,807         
  197.   cloak a b t       13.13           16.86        20,897        16,274         
  198.   cmp a b           54.61           56.20         5,024         4,882         
  199.                                                                               
  200.   Please remember, this is a 'Crippleware/Freeware' Type Program!             
  201.   The commercial versions of Cloak run more quickly, and use a much           
  202.   more sophisticated enrcyption scheme.  Commercial versions also allow       
  203.   multiple encryptions and/or multiple passwords, and have a friendly         
  204.   user-interface option, in addition to the command line and 3 question       
  205.   modes.                                                                      
  206.                                                                               
  207.                                                                               
  208.                                                                               
  209.                                                                               
  210.   Cloak: Data Encryption from Thunderhead Software                Page: 10    
  211.   P.O. Box 91, McKeesport, Pa., USA, 15135   (412) 751-4020                   
  212.                                                                               
  213.