CRYPT(1) CRYPT(1)
NAME
crypt - encode/decode
SYNOPSIS
crypt [ password ]
crypt [-k]
DESCRIPTION
crypt reads from the standard input and writes on the
standard output. The password is a key that selects a
particular transformation. If no argument is given, crypt
demands a key from the terminal and turns off printing while
the key is being typed in. If the -k option is used, crypt
will use the key assigned to the environment variable
CRYPTKEY. crypt encrypts and decrypts with the same key:
crypt key <clear >cypher
crypt key <cypher | pr
Files encrypted by crypt are compatible with those treated
by the editors ed(1), edit(1), ex(1), and vi(1) in
encryption mode.
The security of encrypted files depends on three factors:
the fundamental method must be hard to solve; direct search
of the key space must be infeasible; ``sneak paths'' by
which keys or clear text can become visible must be
minimized.
crypt implements a one-rotor machine designed along the
lines of the German Enigma, but with a 256-element rotor.
Methods of attack on such machines are known, but not
widely; moreover the amount of work required is likely to be
large.
The transformation of a key into the internal settings of
the machine is deliberately designed to be expensive, i.e.,
to take a substantial fraction of a second to compute.
However, if keys are restricted to (say) three lower-case
letters, then encrypted files can be read by expending only
a substantial fraction of five minutes of machine time.
If the key is an argument to the crypt command, it is
potentially visible to users executing ps(1) or a
derivative. The choice of keys and key security are the
most vulnerable aspect of crypt.
FILES
/dev/tty for typed key
SEE ALSO
ed(1), edit(1), ex(1), makekey(1), ps(1), stty(1), vi(1).
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CRYPT(1) CRYPT(1)
WARNING
This command is provided with the Security Administration
Utilities, which is only available in the United States. If
two or more files encrypted with the same key are
concatenated and an attempt is made to decrypt the result,
only the contents of the first of the original files will be
decrypted correctly.
BUGS
If output is piped to nroff and the encryption key is not
given on the command line, crypt can leave terminal modes in
a strange state (see stty(1)).
ORIGIN
AT&T V.3
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