I used CryptoStorage but I tend to trust open source security software more. I kept hoping that TrueCrypt would do a WM version but so far they seem to be uninterested. Finally there's a FreeOTFE.

I found it here:

http://www.freeotfe.org/

So far it performed flawlessly on X51v.

Sarah Dean has been working on her OTFE software for quite a while, I exchanged emails with her a few years back, so she's not somebody who just popped up out of nowhere.

Pros: Free, open source, doesn't require installation, small footprint (*), , works in WM5, has a desktop counterpart (or rather it's the other way around ), offers sh##load of algorithms to chose from

(*) if you only keep one algorithm dll in directory. This would let a would-be attacker know what algorithm was used to encrypt the file but I don't see how knowing that the container was encrypted with AES would help anybody outside of NSA.

Cons: no timeout option; if you want to be able to use file both on PC and PPC you have to create it on PC first (you can later add to it on either platform); sluggish on file open unless you do (*) above.

As a follow up - this software seems to be much more secure than CryptoStorage.

In CS, if I had a soft reset when my SD-based volume was mounted, all files on that volume were visible after reset. I had to start CS & dismount the volume to hide them again. This happened at least twice. Not good.

In FreeOTFE, soft-resetting PDA also closes files. Very good.

I looked at this and it looks good for encrypting an entire disk or part of a disk. What I need, however, is a way to encrypt specific files on a PPC and PC. Any ideas?

Lizard_weasel (Steve)
Axim X51V A01 Hardware A12 Rom
Kingston 2gb cf card
PNY 2gb sd card
Globalsat BT-338 GPS Receiver 3.1.1 Firmware

Thanks for the heads up!

Paul

   

Awesome find -- my requirements and even many of my "nice-to-have" requirements seem to be met by this:

• support for encryption of a set of files on Windows XP, Windows Mobile 5, and Linux
• Result must be a file that can be copied and stored anywhere, so that I can "sync" it.
• Support non-installed mode; however, I am doubtful of how it can work if user is not an administrator.
• Free and open-source

I will definitely be checking this out. It will be annoying to have to input keys to mount volumes anytime I want to handle the files, but I've been needing to protect my really important files for some time.

Gillius
Gillius's Programming
http://www.gillius.org/

This is a very good program.

I tried several encryption programs (sentryce, airscanner, pocketlock, and win-rar)-trials. None of them match the way FREEOTFE encrypt my sd card.

The only thing that I noticed is the volume file size... I tried one with 250 mb, and it is really slow opening it once I mount it... nearly stalled.
I find volume file size that is 100 mb and below is workable.

One thing I don't really like, but have to get use to it--since it is a security feature--is that every time I soft reset the volume file will unmount, and I must mount the volume again...

Thank you Amamba for posting this, and Sarah Dean for developing it

Have you tried:
http://www.win-rar.com/pocketrar.html

You can open the file from pda or pc.

Yes, these apps are actually much easier to find than true OTFE for PDA.

Go to http://www.freewareppc.com/utilities...security.shtml

for example.

However, why not OTFE ? It's much easier to protect all sensitive files at once (and automatically), rather than doing it file by file. Of course, you may have a different situation.

How many cypher / hash driver files do you have ?

I haven't tried it with large containers on PDA yet - just a 50MB one - but if you only keep the three required drivers in FreeOTFE directory on PDA (the FreeOTFE driver, the crypto driver, and the hash driver) and remove the crypto and hash drivers that you don't use, the open speed goes up tremendously.

I also suggest emailing Sarah Dean, I had a few questions / suggestions and she replied very quickly and was very helpful.

Added: nevermind, I misread your statement - you're saying it's slow after you mount your container. It could have something to do with size of internal files. E.g. if I open the directory of iNav program in file explorer (it's not in an encrypted container) it takes looooong time to refresh the screen, I figured it had something to do with size of the file, or perhaps reading the icon from it. Do you keep a lot of files, or some really large files, in the root directory of that container ?

for the 250mb container, I did put a lot of stuff in it
I put all the backup programs (along with registration code) in there.
Now, I just split them up, it worked quite well actually.

I've successfully installed FreeOTFE4PDA on an Axim x50v, but have not successfully discovered how to add an existing file to the newly created volume.

The author's notes do not provide instructions for actually storing files in the container.

Very much appreciate a brief listing of steps on the use of FreeOTFE4PDA.

TIA...

I haven't used it yet but I thought OTFE mounts a new partition (basically, makes a new drive letter in Windows, or in PDA it would act like a CF/SD card so it probably makes a directory in the root).

In other words, OTFE looks like a "drive" so you just copy files to it (I think, this is what I gather)

Gillius
Gillius's Programming
http://www.gillius.org/

What happened? The site seems to be completely gone....

it's back up !!! yea !!!

Weird. I better get it now while I can!