AxCrypt 2.0 and 1.7

[zenrider]

1.7 doesn’t show up on the website anymore

[Sputnik]

Hi zenrider.

You will be able to download the old 1.7.3156 version from the old AxCrypt’s website :

http://www.axantum.com/AxCrypt/Downloads.html

I would suggest you to keep the setup file that you will download.

 

 

[Andy]

Hi Svante,

Thanks for your prompt and detailed reply.

First of all, I want to say that it’s completely understandable why you’ve chosen to implement a Freemium/Premium model now and I wish you the best of luck with that – you’ve created a great program and deserve to be compensated for it. Additionally, I would like to suggest that if you end up closing down your old website, that you consider including an option to donate on your new website for people like me who don’t need the extra functionality of the Premium version, but still want to show their appreciation for a great free product by donating. By the way, I didn’t know that I could pay with a card via PayPal (never used it!), so I’m glad you told me about that and it worked fine.

Regarding the issue with having a single password for signing in and encrypting files in AxCrypt 2, I can see why you say that “for most users the convenience outweighs the security concerns”, but I suspect there may be a significant minority for which, like me, this is not the case. I say this because, like most people, I already have many different passwords for online accounts, so an extra one is not much of a consideration – especially if it provides me with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that my Axcrypt password never travels across the internet (no matter how safe this might be). And as far as my PC alone is concerned, I actually like that I only have to remember two passwords – one for Bitlocker when I switch it on and one for my AxCrypt files – and that these passwords are solely under my control.

As I said in my previous post, I agree that having just one strong password for all AxCrypt files is a good idea, but just not the same one that is used for signing in – for the reason explained above. This would help users avoid the problems you mention with having to remember different passwords, while at the same time satisfying those that don’t like the idea of their AxCrypt password travelling over the internet.

Although I have to confess I am not “tech-savvy” enough to understand the alternative process you suggest might be used in future whereby the password never actually reaches the server, I do trust what you say. However, exactly as you anticipated at the end of your post and maybe as a result of my ignorance of the process, just knowing that my password is travelling online still makes me feel uneasy. Maybe for those who feel like I do, you could consider including a third option alongside the Freemium/Premium options where a person could just pay a one-off fee to have the AxCrypt 2 Freemium version, but with one extra feature – to have a single password purely for encryption. That way, you not only satisfy those of us that want this feature, but you would get paid for providing it.

Hope this better clarifies my concerns.

Andy

[md]

I just downloaded and installed version 2 and I am really disappointed that my favorite feature has been removed. I want to be able to create a self-decrypting file (.exe). I use these to archive files and the new method of using keys tied to email addresses is too transitory to rely upon. Having a self-decrypting archive with a password is much preferred.

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello md!

Thanks for the valuable feeback!

I think perhaps you missed the fact we have a fully featured portable version that you can include with your archive files. This is much better than the very limited ‘AxDecrypt’ which the self-decrypting files used. No installation required, it’s essentially the same thing. We might bring the ‘self-decrypting’ feature back with the portable version as the base, or something similar, although I really don’t think it’s the best solution. Still, in this case, it doesn’t really hurt either.

AxCrypt 2 is still “just” password based encryption, there is no required tie to the e-mail adress, it’s there for sharing purposes and for the purpose of making a change of password simple. But you can *always* decrypt the file with the password used when it was originally encrypted.

We’ll be making it possible to use AxCrypt fully stand-alone without any connection to our servers as well, so that will not be an issue soon. I do understand the concern here for long-term archival purposes, so we’ll be addressing that.

Svante

[ChristianM]

Hi Svante,

what would happen, for whatever reason, if you shutdown you server / service? How could I install and activate AxCrypt and decrypt my files?

Christian

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello ChristianM,

As a final resort, the source code is available on third party servers, and there’s nothing on our servers that is really needed to decrypt any files as long as you know the original password used.

We’ll be implementing a simple way to achieve this soon as well in the main distribution, see https://bitbucket.org/axantum/axcrypt-net/issues/60/support-offline-registration-and-key-pair . The main challenge is how to make this both safe, and also not the standard since we’re seeing so many benefits in having real, verified email-addresses. For one thing, support is working much better!

Also, the key pair mentioned in the issue is a convenience, it’s not *required* in order to actually decrypt files.

[Jason]

I am a v1 user. I will continue to use this version. I will not use v2, since my pc is shared and there are files that I must protect from being access.  I went to the old site and saw a new version of 1.7; 1.7.3180. I am currently using 1.7.3156. What changes were made to the new version?

[Juliette]

Hello,

 

With the V1 iOS app, it is not possible to decrypt V2 encrypted files. However, we are working on the iOS app for AxCrypt 2 and we hope it will be release before the end of the year.

 

Best regards,

 

Juliette

AxCrypt AB

[Thomas]

can only agree to TairikuOkami comment dated May 13th. After testing found that V. 2 for ME is not that convenient compared to V1.7.  Sorry to say that but unfortunately have look for alternatives. brgds

[Me]

By forcing the use of “recent files” you have made the program 100% unsafe and untrustworthy. anyone can very easy click the icon which was never their in the first place making the encrypted files so very easy to find and with a simple click open every single one of them. whats the point of encrypting the stuff with your …. A password should be required to open any file every time wither its 1 or 500 files by making this junk you have just made it 100% easier for anyone to see what we are encrypting. that defeats the whole purpose. Make it right click encrypt/decrypt, password mandatory to decrypt and NO RECENT FILES directory. do you work for the NSA?? snoopers? because you just made their jobs so much more easy. im getting rid of it going back to 1.7

[jason]

I guess keymaster has no interest in answering my question. Oh Well…

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello Jason,

Oh, yes – there’s interest. But I’ve personally been away for a vacation with no Internet ;-)

Anyway, the difference between 1.7.3156 and 1.7.3180 are zero as far as actual function is concerned. The big difference is the removal of the OpenCandy advertising wrapper. It’s a 100% clean installer now. Also, it’s a recompile with the current tooling.

I’m not sure why version 2 is not suitable for you though, can you tell us more about that?

Svante

[Jason]

V2 is not suitable for me because this is a shared pc with one user account. As I understand it, when you log in, the files are automatically decrypted. I need a system that requires decrypt as needed and need to use different passwords for different files. I don’t believe v2 offers this feature; V! does.

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello Jason,

Thanks for your input!

Well, no, files are not automatically decrypted when you log in to Windows. However, if you are sharing a PC with a single account, then it’s simply not a very suitable environment to keep any kind of secrets.

Is it really a requirement to share the same account? It’s such a bad idea in so many ways…

Also, using different passwords for different files is seldom an optimal strategy. I wrote a blog post that discusses this, http://www.axcrypt.net/blog/use-of-different-passwords/ .

Regards,

Svante

[Author]

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