15-Minute Reviews :: Invisible Secrets v4.6.3
Hello all and welcome to today’s 15-Minute Review! Today’s application is Invisible Secrets version 4.6.3 by NeoByte Solutions – An application for hiding files within carrier files, encryption, shredding and more.
Software Description
As Giveaway of the Day states:
“Invisible Secrets 4 not only encrypts your data and files for safe keeping or for secure transfer across the net, it also hides them in places that on the surface appear totally innocent, such as picture or sound files, or web pages.
_Invisible Secrets 4 features strong file encryption algorithms (including AES – Rijndael), a password management solution that stores all your passwords securely and helps you create secure passwords, a shredder that helps you destroy beyond recovery files, folders and internet traces, a locker that allows you to password protect certain applications, the ability to create self-decrypting packages and mail them to your friends or business partners, a tool that allows you to transfer a password securely over the internet, and a cryptboard to help you use the program from Windows Explorer.
Invisible Secrets 4 is shell integrated and offers a wizard that guides you through all the necessary steps needed to protect your data.”
Quick Pros
- Interface and short wizards are easy to use and follow
- Shell integration for quicker usage
- Lots of options for hiding, encrypting, self-decrypting
- 8 different encryption schemes available
- Lots of extras that work well and are nice addition
- Processes run very quickly
Quick Cons
- Limited to 5 carrier filetypes
- Point of fake files with names like fake1.tmp
- All this focus on security, and FTP has no secure FTP settings
- Needs to support other browsers for shredding traces
- Would be nice if there was explanation of how the IP-to-IP Password Transfer works
- Could use a freeware/distributable version for only unhiding, decrypting, and password transfer (Update: See note At bottom)
Expansion
While I don’t dabble too much in cryptography anymore, this ‘carrier’ concept has always been interesting to me. The application wraps the entire process in a dark-looking main-window; The main window gives access to all the features of the application. Hiding and unhiding; Encryption and decryption; Building of a self-decrypting package; File shredding including Internet Explorer settings (Sorry Firefox/Opera/Safari); IP-to-IP password transfers; Locking applications and then the password manager. Each item has its own wizard which is easy to follow with descriptive option titles and easy-access help. Even through all this, there is also an easy-to-use shell interface to start each one of the wizards, and does make finding the files easier to do to start with rather than browsing.
The main feature of this application is the file hiding. This in itself is powerful functionality. By hiding a file (or multiple files) within a carrier file, you have not only made life more difficult for those who may be looking for sensitive information, it also hides the availability of the information so that those who may not be looking (or looking in the right place) don’t see signs of hidden data. This application supports 5 formats out of the box (Could have been more, but a good start) – JPG, PNG, GMP, HTML and WAV. Now the biggest factor here is how much data you can hide in each of these filetypes without someone being suspicious of a massively-bloated file.
Hint: gaotd
Besides just hiding, you can also use just the encryption functionality itself on a single file or multiple files as well, with much the same options as hiding. This may be handy for just encrypting a file or set of files that you don’t want to hide but just send with some security behind it. If you are concerned that the receiving end doesn’t have this application (which there is a good possibility), you can create a self-decrypting package too, which is essentially the same as encrypting, but it wraps the data in an executable for easy use for others.
Besides the few issues I had above, there are a few I did have on top of those above. With all this focus on security, this application’s FTP functionality is nice; However it lacks any secure FTP functionality and with your password being transferred in plaintext, you are just creating another opening by using this. Secure FTP should be added as a minimum here.
Mentioned above, this application shreds for Internet Explorer only. With Firefox with such a huge base now, it really should be considered for any privacy-related tools and included without a second thought anymore. I know that my website’s visitors are about 47 percent Firefox users; The number of Firefox users are increasing rapidly as well and should not be worried if their browser is supported by functionality of an application.
A small point; It would be nice if the author gave an explanation of how the Password Transfer application prevents a man-in-the-middle attack and relaying the packets back through into their own copy of Invisible Secrets to see the password themselves.
On a final note; While this application is handy in itself, it requires for all but the self-decrypting package that the receiving end(s) have this application as well or know how to manually open it themselves (unlikely). The author should offer a freeware and distributable freeware version that is only capable of unhiding carrier payloads, decrypting files it created and handle receiving Password Transfers. This would likely make the adoption of this title a lot easier for some. (Update: See note At bottom)
Final Verdict
All-in-all, while there are some issues, its concept is great and simplifies the process of hiding inside carriers easy. For free, it is definitely worth grabbing it if you have a use for it. As for paying $39.95, it would really depend on how much you would use its features; It would be definitely worth it if there was a freeware ‘receiving’ application included.
Correction: Thanks to AnonAMouse ( Comment #47 here and previous ) That the trial of the software is 30 days, but the ability to unhide/decrypt is not disabled after the trial has expired, allowing others to find and decrypt your hidden goodies. Thanks again AnonAMouse!
Posted by BladedThoth on Wednesday, August 08, 2007
