mcrypt-2.6.3: description + notes

mcrypt is intended to be replacement for the old Unix crypt(1) under the GNU General Public License.

crypt was a popular file encryption program for Unix boxes, based on the Enigma encryption algorithm. mcrypt addresses the today inadequate privacy level guaranteed by crypt by implementing some modern block encryption algorithms.

mcrypt also has a compatibility mode with crypt, as well as with Solaris des(1). It supports all the algorithms and modes found in libmcrypt and it is very extendable. At the time of this writing it supports the following algorithms: BLOWFISH, TWOFISH, DES, TripleDES, 3-WAY, SAFER, LOKI97, GOST, RC2, RC6, MARS, IDEA, RIJNDAEL, SERPENT, CAST, ARCFOUR and WAKE.

Block algorithms are implemented in modes: CFB, CBC, CTR, ECB, OFB (8 bit and n bit, where n is the size of the algorithm's block length). For a brief description of the algorithms and the modes look at the mcrypt manpage (this may be out of date).

Since version 2.6.0, mcrypt supports the OpenPGP (RFC2440) encrypted file format.


Special thanks to Andrea Suatoni (a.suatoni@telefonica.net) for helping port this package to IRIX.
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