| | | Encrypted Messaging Service | Why Encrypt your messages?
You want to send your girlfriend a message from the office and you'd rather the IT guys weren't reading your e-mail. You're messaging a potential client about the special offer you want to make and want to keep it a secret to your competitors. These are just some examples when you might want to keep your messages for yourself.
Encrypting a message keeps the contents of the message private by converting it from readable text to scrambled text. An encrypted message can be read only by recipients who have the private key to decrypt it. Encryption does not make your data secure. Not using encryption, however, means that any data in transit is as easy to read as a newspaper on your doorstep. Encryption at least ensures that anyone who does read your messages has had a hard time hacking it.
The Webmasterslookup Encrypted Messaging Service will help you with your encrypting messaging needs.
Issues you have to consider (I).
- The Encryted Messaging Service of Webmasterslookup is a Private Key encryption system. Both parties share an encryption key, and the encryption key is also the one used to decrypt the message. The difficulty is sharing the key before you start encrypting the message - how do you safely transmit that key? In this system however the key is not transmitted but present on the internet. You only have to know which key to use.
- Cryptanalysis, or the process of attempting to read the encrypted message without the key, is very much easier with modern computers than it has ever been before. Modern computers are fast enough to allow for 'brute force' methods of cryptanalysis - or using every possible key in turn until the 'plain text' version of the message is found. In this particular system however the key can be a temporary key with only a short lifetime. This makes it very hard to decrypt.
The longer the key, the longer it takes to use the 'brute force' method of cryptanalysis - but it also makes the process of encrypting and decrypting the message slower. Key length is very important to the security of the encryption method - but the 'safe' key length changes every time CPU manufacturers bring out a new processor.
You can choose your own key length in the Encrypted Messaging Service of WebmastersLookup.
Benefits.
* Encryption is done by an unknown unusual method.
* The message is encrypted and stored in our database. It is not sent by e-mail.
* We don't store IP`s or Web Keys in our database.
* Only a notification is sent by e-mail to the recipient if you want it.
* The receiver's e-mail address is the identifier, both users don't need a special account or membership.
* You don't have to install a certificate.
* A handshake with your personal computer secures your identity.
* This web based service means no download, no special software and no need for a special mail client.
* There are no traces of the message on your computer.
* It is Free!!
How it works.
I am very open about how the encryption script works. The method is not the secret, the secret is the key you use to encrypt the message. This is how it's done step by step.
1. Start writing a message by entering the subject, the receivers and senders data, if you want to hide yourself or not and the message.
- You can start right away without making yourself known to the service.
- Use existing e-mail addresses. We need to make a handshake by e-mail once to make sure nobody else is reading your mail.
2. Enter the web key.
- The web key must be an existing webpage on the internet like 'www.example.com/example.html'.
Use a wikipedia page, or a homepage of your friend or any other page you know as long as it is accessible.
- During the encryption process every character of the given webpage is stored in an array.
The parameters of this array are the encrypted text, presenting positions in the array.
- Some webpages using Flash don't work well for this service.
Use another page when you encounter errors or a long encryption percentage.
3. Choose if you want to send a notification to the receiver.
- This is an e-mail with a link in it to the encrypted message.
- The first time you send him a message you have to do this because he needs a link to get to his Inbox.
- You can send encrypted messages to yourself too to create your own handshake.
4. The receiver gets the notification by e-mail.
- By opening the link in this e-mail the encrypted message will appear.
5. The receiver enters the web key.
- He uses the same webpage as you did in 2.
- The decryption takes place.
6. The decrypted message is shown.
- Now we know it is a valid user.
- At this point a cookie (the handshake) is stored on the receiver's PC.
- And the receiver can Reply, Send Forward or Delete the message.
- The receiver has access to his Inbox too.
7. You need to renew your handshake.
- If you have been away for a while you need to renew your handshake.
This prevents others to highjack your messages.
Issues you have to consider (II).
The encryption is based on the content of the webpage you pick to be the web key. You can send the receiver an innocent e-mail talking about that page or even better send him an SMS, a phone call or a letter.
Take a webpage which is large, the bigger the page the better the key. The key is valid as long as the content is stable. When the content of a web key page changes the message is no longer decryptable. This means you have to think about the time span the message must be available for the receiver to read. Newspaper sites change all the time, Home and profile page change less rapidly. Scientific pages are more stable.
To make sure nobody else is reading your messages.
Please identify yourself through your e-mailaddress!
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