The demonstration version of nCrypt Light uses a scaled-down variant of Peter Gutman’s Message Digest Cipher which has been limited in its complexity to comply with trade-in-arms regulations (“ITAR”).
Limited or not, nCrypt Light may not be distributed outside of the USA and Canada. That’s a polite but firm request from us, and also a condition of your license to use it. Realize that distributing nCrypt Light outside of Canada or the USA subjects you or someone who aided you to prosecution.
Before you use nCrypt Light or consider giving a copy to anyone else, read the license agreement included in this document make sure you agree with its terms. If you’re not sure about anything in the license agreement, contact CustomWare immediately.
A Personal Appeal from Andy and Reginald
We realize that many people, including Canadian and American citizens, disagree with the laws governing the export of cryptographic software. We also realize that many people feel that the best way to change these laws is to circumvent them.
If you feel this way, please don’t use nCrypt Light to make your personal statement. Much as we sympathise with those who seek to change these laws, we have chosen to respect them. If you feel strongly about distributing cryptographic software for Newton, please write your own. Don’t trample on our rights in a headlong rush to protect the world from itself.
If you are outside of Canada and the USA, please destroy this copy of nCrypt Light. We know we can’t force you to do so, and we know you probably aren’t breaking any of your laws. But you are making it impossible for us to continue to write cryptographic software. Please respect our freedom of choice. Thank-you.What is nCrypt Light?
nCrypt Light is a Newton application which provides communications security for most Newton applications, including the built in Notepad and Names applications. Another product, nCrypt Deluxe, adds public key cryptographic techniques similar to those found in PowerTalk, RIPEM, and PGP.
nCrypt Light is of interest to users who wish to passphrase protect objects for their own privacy.
nCrypt Light transforms almost any Newton object, such as text, graphics, digital ink, or name cards, into a ‘protected’ text note. Protected notes are unintelligible, but when ‘unprotected’ with the correct password, the original object is restored.
nCrypt Light’s protection is so strong, it is classified as a munition and restricted from export (read the chapter “Warning!”). It may offer more security than products incorporating the US government’s DES or Clipper algorithms.
Future Versions
CustomWare is working hard on nCrypt Deluxe, which will include public key technologies similar to PowerTalk, RIPEM, and PGP. Stay tuned for more details.
If you would like to make a donation, please send us $15 to further our efforts. Mail us a cheque or money order in the currency of your choice. The address is:
CustomWare
73 Brooke Avenue
Toronto, ON Canada
M5M 2K1Installing nCrypt Light
nCrypt Light is supplied as a Newton Package. You can install this package using the Newton Connection Kit or Newton Package Installer.
Using Newton Package Installer
First, you need to connect your Newton to your Macintosh. Use LocalTalk connectors or a serial cable (a serial cable is supplied with Newton Connection Kit; you can also use a ‘serial printing cable’—most Mac shops have these for connecting Macs to ImageWriter printers).
Launch Newton Package Installer. If this is the first time you are using Newton Package Installer, you must select the type of connection you have established with Newton:
When you have selected the connection type and clicked OK, choose Install Package… from the File Menu and select the nCrypt Light package and click Open.
On your Newton, open the Extras drawer and tap the Connection icon. Select the type of connection you have established and tap Connect.
The Newton Package Installer will now install nCrypt Light.
Protecting Objects
When nCrypt is installed you can ‘protect’ almost any Newton object, including notes and names. Protecting an object converts the object into an encrypted note. When you ‘unprotect’ the note, the original object is restored.
Protect Options
You have three diferent options to set when protecting an object:
The Algorithm picker chooses which of nCrypt Light’s installed algorithms will be used. nCrypt Light’s built-in algorithm is called Stop and Go. Other algorithms may be available in the future.
The Source Format picker chooses what you will encrypt. The choices are usually “Native” and one or more text formats. To protect the Newton object exactly as it appears in your Newton, choose Native. To encrypt a text representation of the object, choose one of the text formats.
The New Passphrase picker chooses whether you wish to always enter a passphrase or whether you wish nCrypt Light to use the last passphrase you entered.
Example: Protecting a Note
Create a brief note. Include some styled text and a drawing. Tap the Action button for your new note and select protect
The protect options include different formats, including text of a single note and native notepad. Choose Native Notepad to protect everything you’ve entered into the note. Now tap the Protect button.
Enter a passphrase of your choosing. Double check that you have entered the passphrase correctly! nCrypt Light is case sensitive, and will accept passphrases of any length up to the size of the entry area.
nCrypt Light will now extract the data from the note, protect the note, armor it, and create a new note with your protected message. The message will begin “----- nCrypt Protect Start -----”, will have gibberish such as “+oHQMBTeBnZlbm...” for most of the note, then will end: “----- End nCrypt Protect -----”.
This new note is called a protected note. nCrypt Light converts everything to a note, even if you protect something else like a name or graphic. Protected notes may be stored on a flash card, transmitted to other users, or just retained for later unprotecting.
Users can exchange information via any text communications medium, including NewtonMail and Internet Mail. The original object you protected will remain on your Newton until you remove it; the new note is nCrypt Light’s protected representation of the object.Unprotecting Objects
Unprotecting converts the encrypted notes back into the original objects which you protected. To unprotect an encrypted note, tap the action button and select unprotect. Enter your passphrase. nCrypt Light will recreate the original object.
Unprotect Options
When unprotecting, the Algorithm and Source Format options are nearly meaningless.
The Algorithm picker is used to select a default algorithm in case nCrypt Light cannot find the algorithm used to create the protected note.
The Source Format picker is used to choose what nCrypt Light will examine for the protected text. You should always choose Native Notepad.
The New Passphrase picker chooses whether you wish to always enter a passphrase or whether you wish nCrypt Light to use the last passphrase you entered.
Example: Unprotecting a Note
Tap the Action button of the protected note and select Unprotect. The unprotect options are similar to the protect options.
Tap the Unprotect button and enter the passphrase used to protect this note. nCrypt Light will strip the armor from the note, unprotect it, and restore the original note. Voilà! The original note restored to all of its glory.
nCrypt Prefs
nCrypt Light’s preferences are set in Newton’s preferences roll. Tap the Prefs icon in the Extras Drawer and choose nCrypt from the list of preferences:
There are two options available: The New Passphrase picker sets the default choice when the Protect and Unprotect task slips appear. The Clear Passphrase button clears whatever passphrase you last entered from nCrypt’s memory. This is useful when you have selected “Never” for new passphrases.
Technical Notes
Speed
Protecting text is 10–25 times faster than protecting native Newton objects. For a really quick encryption, just protect “Text of Plain” instead of “Native Notepad”
Session Keys
A session key is a temporary key created by combining your passphrase with a random number called a salt. The salt should be different for every object you protect with the same passphrase. nCrypt Light uses the number of seconds elapsed since January 1, 1904 as a salt for each message.
Armor
nCrypt uses Radix-64, a widely-used standard for converting binary data into printable text and back into binary. nCrypt Light uses it to make sure that protected notes can be exchanged via a wide variety of mail systems.
Drop-In Algorithms
You can install additional cryptographic algorithms into nCrypt Light. If written according to CustomWare’s specifications, additional algorithms appear as separate packages. Nor programming is required to install additional algorithms—just install them on your Newton and they will automatically be available for use with nCrypt.
If you are interested in writing algorithms for nCrypt, contact CustomWare.
Security Considerations
nCrypt Light uses a new, untested algorithm called the Stop and Go Message Digest Cipher to encrypt your data. Because this algorithm has not been subjected to years of review by the cryptographic community, we do not recommend that you rely on nCrypt for protection of valuable or sensitive information.
Also, the Newton architecture uses a garbage collection scheme which may cause your passphrase to linger in your Newton’s memory long after nCrypt erases it. Recovering the passphrase may be possible for someone with access to your Newton. This does not affect the security of items which are transmitted outside of your Newton (such as beams, mail, or flash cards).
Bugs/Suggestions
Please report all suggested features and bugs to CustomWare:
CustomWare
73 Brooke Avenue
Toronto, ON Canada
M5M 2K1
customware@applelink.apple.com
71242.3725@compuserve.com
grinch@hookup.netLicense Agreement
You must carefully read the following terms and conditions before using this software or giving copies away. Your use of this software or continued possession of any copy of this software consitutes an understanding and acceptrance of these terms and conditions. If you do not agree with them, you should promptly destroy or transfer to another party, provided that that party agrees to abide by this agreement, all copies in your possession.
This software contains cryptographic technology which may be subject to export controls.
The term “software” refers to the nCrypt Light program, the code, its design, techniques, concepts, and other intellectual property associated with it.
This software, with the exception of portions which constitute Apple Computer’s proprietary NewtonScript libraries, is owned by CustomWare and contains valuable proprietary trade and technical secrets. This license does not convey any ownership to you.
What you may do with nCrypt Light
You may use nCrypt light on as many systems as you wish, at any time, for personal non-commercial purposes. By personal purposes, we mean your personal, private, away-from-the-job, not-for-profit, use.
You may make as many copies as you wish for your personal use.
You may distribute nCrypt Light within the USA and Canada, provided you distribute nCrypt Light unaltered and provided that this documentation accompanies it unaltered.
You may use it within Canada and the USA.
What you may NOT do with nCrypt Light
You may not use nCrypt Light for commercial purposes. By this, we mean using it in the course of your business, your employment, or other for-profit activity. If you wish to use nCrypt for such purposes, contact CustomWare and ask about corporate licensing.
You may not reverse-engineer, decompile, trace, or otherwise extract technical or trade secrets from nCrypt Light.
You may not distribute nCrypt Light outside of theUSA or Canada, regardless of whether you believe nCrypt Light to be regulated by export controls.
You may not distribute nCrypt Light for commercial benefit. Online services and bulletin boards which charge fees for access, such as Magic, CompuServe, America Online, and eWorld, are specifically exempt from this prohibition.Warranty
nCrypt Light is provided “As Is” and should not be construed as being fit for any purpose whatsoever. This documentation is provided electronically, which means that you can’t even use it for personal hygiene.
nCrypt Light is an experimental product which is licensed for your personal use. Don’t use it for anything you consider valuable or sensitive. If it doesn’t work, tough. If it harms your hardware, software, data, mental health, physical well being, bank account or reputation, tough. If it emails a copy of everything on your Newton to the NSA, the Russians, or anybody else, tough.
If you request or demand assistance, reparation, or compensation from CustomWare, realize that we intend to do the minimum required by law, including nothing. Realize also that we mean our law, Ontario and Canadian law, not your law.
If you send us money, you are making a donation to further our research efforts and lifestyles. You are not buying anything from us, and you can’t have your money back, nor can you expect anything in return, except such things that we put in writing.
Nevertheless, we request that you send us $15 to further our efforts. Mail us a cheque or money order in the currency of your choice.CustomWare
CustomWare is a Registered Apple Developer, Registered Fourth Dimension Developer, and Newton Pioneer. CustomWare can be reached at:
CustomWare
73 Brooke Avenue
Toronto, ON Canada
M5M 2K1
customware@applelink.apple.com
71242.3725@compuserve.com
grinch@hookup.net
We request that you send us $15 to further our efforts. Mail us a cheque or money order in the currency of your choice. Thank-you.
