Should I be using AxCrypt?

[Danny Justice]

We communicate with dissidents and other people around the world where if their government found out, they might end up in prison or worse.
We’re looking at AxCrypt and it looks like I’d have to use the same password (version 2) for everyone unless we use certificates, which might be a problem for either way. It appears that the older version uses any password but I’m concerned that it’s not maintained and may not work properly.

Is there encryption software that I should be using? So far, it looks like gpg or gpg4win will use passwords any way we like. Is there any way to use AxCrypt the same way (different passwords)?

 

Thank you

[Prabhukumar RModerator]

Hello Danny,

AxCrypt 2 now use a single sign on model where the same password is used to sign in to our servers and to protect your files.

Sorry to say, AxCrypt 2.x does not support different password for different files feature due to some security reasons. Please refer our blog for more info: https://www.axcrypt.net/blog/use-of-different-passwords/ .

[Got]

Hello Prabhukumar,

The link you give is empty for me.

 

[Prabhukumar RModerator]

Hello Got,

Sorry to hear this. I will check and fix the same. Below I will explain the link content.

In the previous version of AxCrypt, it was sometimes necessary to use different passwords for different files. This happened when files were shared between different persons. Obviously you then needed to share the password as well, but you do not want to share your own password. So, for each set of persons sharing a file, a different password was needed.

Additionally, it happened that users would set different passwords for different files, even if they were only for private use. This may *feel* safer, but in fact at best it adds no security and at worst it causes a situation with *less* security.

The first scenario, sharing of encrypted files with other persons, is handled in AxCrypt by the Key Sharing feature. This will be discussed elsewhere, let it just be said here that it’s a much better way to achieve this benefit than different passwords.

The second, using different passwords for yourself, is a little counterintuitive perhaps but the truth is – there is no need, and no benefit. It might *feel* better, but it’s not the solution to any problem. One aspect is that having many passwords will most likely be more inconvenient and thus make you less prone to use encryption. That’s bad, you don’t have that added protection. Also, it increases the risk of forgetting one of them. That’s bad, you lose your data. If you have too many, you’ll have to use a password manager to keep track of them. That’s not necessarily bad, but it doesn’t improve anything either.

Using many passwords actually tend to decrease the practical security because it’s more inconvenient the barrier against use is higher, and also it’s simply too hard to keep track of many strong passwords. So the typical situation will be many weak passwords. Instead we’re saying that if you can handle one, strong password for all your files, we’ll make it convenient to use since you don’t have to enter it very often. This will in practical terms tend to increase security overall.

Security pundits have always looked for the holy grail of single sign on. We’re not there yet, and we won’t get there in our lifetime, but the main point is: Fewer passwords is better. That’s what we’re trying to achieve with AxCrypt 2.

So, instead of using different passwords for different files, set a good and strong password and use that. With AxCrypt 2, you’ll only have to type it once per session, then you have immediate access to all your files. One password to rule them all…

Regardless of whether you’re an old user of AxCrypt 1, or a new user, don’t fall into the multiple password trap. If you’re already in there, use AxCrypt and it’s auto conversion feature to quickly and easily get out of it!

[mango]

We’re looking at AxCrypt and it looks like I’d have to use the same password (version 2) for everyone unless we use certificates, which might be a problem either way. It appears that the older version uses any password but I’m concerned that it’s not maintained and may not work properly. mapquest driving directions

[Prabhukumar RModerator]

Hello mango

We’re looking at AxCrypt and it looks like I’d have to use the same password (version 2) for everyone unless we use certificates, which might be a problem either way — Sorry to say, it’s not clear. please more detailed about the question.

AxCrypt 2 now use a single sign on model where the same password is used to sign in to our servers and to protect your files.

AxCrypt will use the AxCrypt account password to encrypt/decrypt the files. The account password is used/involved to encrypt the files with the AxCrypt app.

It appears that the older version uses any password but I’m concerned that it’s not maintained and may not work properly. — yes not maintained. We are stopped developing new features and fixing issues for the legacy version(AxCrypt 1.x). we will not be actively developing 1.x, nor will support be a priority. We are advising users to use AxCrypt 2.x latest.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact our support via support@axcrypt.net.

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