BitCrypt Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who are the authors of the program?
2. Who are you - why should I trust you to implement effective encryption software?
3. What are the system requirements for this program?
4. I want to see the source code of the program. How can I do that?
5. Is there any support provided for the program?
6. Is there a completely free version of the program that I could use?
7. Why and when would I use this program?
8. Who is this program for?
9. How does your software help me fill my needs?
10. Why should I choose your product over a competing one?

1 Who are the authors of the program?

Hagen Reddmann is a German scientist and software developer. He has done extensive work on implementation of cipher algorithms and provided them as freeware in the form of Delphi components. He has also undertaken comprehensive studies of code optimization techniques. This work is mainly written in assembler and has been published through the relevant discussion groups. His Delphi Encryption Compendium Part I-III contains a comprehensive collection of Hash and Cipher algorithm implementations. The modules written by him may be downloaded from the Borland Developer web site, as well as from numerous other Internet locations. He may be contacted at the following address:  HaReddmann (at) AOL.COM

Moshe Szweizer is a New Zealand software developer who began his scientific career in the field of Theoretical Physics. He studied toward Ph.D. in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics at The Pennsylvania State University, and later on worked as commercial software developer for one of the New Zealand database developing companies. Currently, he teaches computers at one of Auckland's (New Zealand) schools. If you would like to write to me please send the letter to: moshe_szweizer (at) yahoo.com

Note: People keep asking me about my studies at Penn State. My particulars are as follows:

Student Number: 166721596
Name: ZBIGNIEW  JERZY KOLODZIEJSKI
Start Date: FALL 1990
Stop Date: FALL 1992
Doctoral Candidacy Examination passed on: 08-23-91 ADMIT DOCTORAL AND PH D - PHYS

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2 Who are you - why should I trust you to implement effective encryption software?

The authors of the program strive to implement scientific approach to the topic of software development. This means that the objective is not to produce a commercially successful application but rather to solve all the theoretical and practical problems associated with the particular problem resolution. In the case of this application the problem tackled was to find a method of secure information passing without making such communication transparent to the third parties. The solution to the problem required division of the implementation into two parts. The first one, represents easily verifiable superior encryption techniques implemented through open source coding. Such approach ensures that the public is satisfied with the strength of implemented encryption. The second part requires a close source coding, which is to ensure the effectiveness of the 'hiding of information' part of the process. Not only the encrypted text is hidden within the picture images, but also the particular implementation of the hiding technique is not made public. In this way the effective encryption strength is multiplied.
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3 What are the system requirements for this program?

This is a very small application and should work properly on any Windows computer. You need at least 200 MHz processor, with 32 Mb or RAM. The installation takes just 1.5 Mb of hard drive space.
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4 I want to see the source code of the program. How can I do that?

The source code for the ciphers can be obtained through downloading the Delphi Encryption Compendium Part I-III.
One of the numerous sites distributing it is: http://www.delphi32.com/vcl/3267/

The source for the BitCrypt is not public and you may not see it. This is to strengthen the overall encryption power. Surely, one may attempt to reverse engineer the program in order to learn how it has been implemented, but this is not as easy as it sounds. Most reverse engineering tools would produce assembler as their output, which, without prior knowledge what the particular part of the program does, is difficult to read. What I tried to do is to combine three approaches to the notion of data hiding:

1. Use high quality open source encryption algorithms to encrypt the text as such. This is open source part and verified by the open source community as being strong and flawless

2. Use close source code to implement the process of hiding of the encrypted text. Because this part is not public, and not in possession of any authorities, an extra layer of encryption strength is added to the data hiding process. This part contains additional encryption algorithms, randomization of the image pixels, and the choice of the points where data is written is dependant on the key typed by the user. Thus, even the identification of the image pixels used for data  hiding should not be possible. I can not achieve this objective if I publish the source code.

3. Lastly, the image 'looks' like any ordinary bitmap image. Because, it is a bitmap image (and not for example jpeg), you may not deduce from the image as such that there is any encryption hidden in the picture. The encrypted image is different than the original, but this kind of modification one could achieve through ordinary contrast, brightness or similar modification provided by any image editing tool. All of this is to make sure that it is impossible to establish that any given bitmap image contains encrypted text.

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5 Is there any support provided for the program?

If you have any questions about the program please write to: moshe_szweizer (at) yahoo.com
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6 Is there a completely free version of the program that I could use?

Yes, a free version, without any nags, is distributed through http://www.geocities.com/moshe_szweizer/

You may also download it from numerous other sites. Search for "BitCrypt Free" with Google to find other sites providing the free version of the program. However, please note that the free version is numbered as 2.1 and as such is definitely inferior to the version 3.1 distributed from here. Version 2.1 does not contain any strong ciphers.
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7 Why and when would I use this program?

You would use it in two general situations.

1. If you have some text that you would like to hide without anyone knowing that the process of hiding has taken place. Everyone keeps some pictures on a hard drive. Choose a bitmap image and load it into the program. Type your text and the encryption key. Encrypt it and save the image overriding the original image. No-one would know that you keep your password in that image, or whatever you would like to keep there.

2. You may like to send some information to your friend in another country. Encrypt it and either post the image on the Net or send it as a file attachment with your e-mail. No-one would know that you are sending encrypted text.

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8 Who is this program for?

This program is for people who think that their personal privacy is invaded. This may be in relation to their work place or long distance communication.
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9 How does your software help me fill my needs?

This program is designed in such a manner that no-one should be able to establish that you encrypt information while storing it or passing it to others. In other words if you would like to be seen as "not hiding anything", but at the same time are tired of being over-controlled then the program would address your personal needs. At the same time it would allow you to preserve the image of total openness.
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10 Why should I choose your product over a competing one?

This is a question of style and feel. Yes, there are other programs that provide similar functionality. You may feel that you like them more. However, you may like this particular attempt to the strong encryption problem. In that case you are most welcome to use it.
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