CRYPT man page on SmartOS

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CRYPT(1)							      CRYPT(1)

NAME
       crypt - encode or decode a file

SYNOPSIS
       crypt [password]

DESCRIPTION
       The  crypt utility encrypts and decrypts the contents of a file.	 crypt
       reads from the standard input and writes on the standard	 output.   The
       password is a key that selects a particular transformation. If no pass‐
       word is given, crypt demands a key from	the  terminal  and  turns  off
       printing	 while	the key is being typed in. crypt encrypts and decrypts
       with the same key:

	 example% crypt key < clear.file > encrypted.file
	 example% crypt key < encrypted.file | pr

       prints the contents of clear.file.

       Files encrypted by crypt are compatible with those treated by the  edi‐
       tors ed(1), ex(1), and vi(1) in encryption mode.

       The  security  of encrypted files depends on three factors:  the funda‐
       mental method must be hard to solve; direct search  of  the  key	 space
       must be infeasible; "sneak paths" by which keys or cleartext 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 widely known, thus crypt provides minimal security.

       The transformation of a key into the internal settings of  the  machine
       is  deliberately	 designed to be expensive, that is, to take a substan‐
       tial 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.

       Since the key is an argument to the crypt command,  it  is  potentially
       visible	to  users executing ps(1) or a derivative command. To minimize
       this possibility, crypt takes care to destroy any  record  of  the  key
       immediately  upon  entry.  No doubt the choice of keys and key security
       are the most vulnerable aspect of crypt.

FILES
       /dev/tty
		   for typed key

SEE ALSO
       des(1), ed(1), ex(1), ps(1), vi(1), attributes(5)

				  Mar 8, 2005			      CRYPT(1)
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