3 November 1997
Source: Mail list cypherpunks@cyberpass.net

    Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 10:25:21 +0100 (MET)
    From: Anonymous <nobody@replay.com>
    Subject: SynCrypt: the new PGP?
    To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net

    Anybody heard of syncrypt?  www.syncrypt.com

    It is like pgp but has lots of cool features.  File wiping, group
    encryption, automatic encryption of files put in certain directories.

    Get this, hiding encrypted files in pictures!  Automatically.  It pulls
    them back out again too.

    Plus it has an interesting "20 questions" method for backing up your
    passphrase.  If you forget your passphrase you have to answer 25 of 27
    questions like "who was your favorite teacher" to get it back.

    Bruce Schneier is working with them, so they should have good crypto.
    It has blowfish, des and triple des, and idea.  The keys are el gamal.

    Problem is the freeware is crippled to 10 encryptions (unlimited
    decryptions).  $50 for full functions.

    Is this the new pgp?  No gak or even cak in sight.

    SynMonger

    From: "Jim Russell" <jrussell@syncrypt.com>
    To: <cypherpunks@cyberpass.net>
    Subject: Re: SynCrypt: the new PGP?
    Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 16:46:59 -0500

    >>Anybody heard of syncrypt?

    I have.  Of course, being one of its authors, that's to be expected.

    >>File wiping, group encryption, automatic encryption of files put in
    certain directories... hiding encrypted files in pictures!

    True, true, true and true.  I might add that the Secure Delete file wiping
    passes Kent Briggs' "Directory Snoop" check on Windows 95.

    >>It pulls them back out again too.

    We'd have some unhappy customers if it didn't. <g>

    >>Plus it has an interesting "20 questions" method for backing up your
    passphrase.

    For the algorithmically inclined among us, this was implemented via Shamir's
    secret-sharing scheme.  There was also a great deal of discussion about what
    questions to ask -- "What's your favorite color?" doesn't provide as much
    entropy as "What was the last name of your favorite grade school teacher?",
    for example.

    >>Bruce Schneier is working with them, so they should have good crypto.

    Yes, having Bruce and his colleague Chris Hall consulting with us was
    invaluable.  They beat up on us pretty good during the betas, which is
    exactly what we wanted.

    >>No gak or even cak in sight.

    Absolutely true.  Our enterprise level product, SynCrypt Gold, is currently
    in development, and its data recovery features will be implemented in such a
    way that it could *never* become an
    infrastructure for GAK.

      Jim Russell <jrussell@syndata.com>
      Chief Software Engineer
      SynData Technologies, Inc.
      http://www.syncrypt.com