Two of our security products, R10Cipher and cuteCipher, allow the exchange of private information across the internet using encryption to keep the information private. This replies on the use of a ‘Shared Secret’ - a number or phrase that is used to encrypt and decrypt the private information.

If you wish to setup a ‘Shared Secret’ with someone, how do you do that without somehow communicating the Shared Secret to the other person. You probably do not want to write it in an email or letter, or even mention it over the telephone. Here is one way of doing it that works just as well over a public forum like Twitter, or over email as it does over a more secure medium.

This method is based on the Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange method which was first published in 1976. For the purposes of illustration the two parties Me, and You, are used in the following example.

Step 1: I tell you a Prime Number I have picked at random

Me: Hey, First Number = 5

Step 2: I pick a second Prime Number that I keep to myself. [I pick 7]

Step 3: I do the following math, First Prime to the power of Second Prime. [5 ^ 7 = 78125]

Me: Hey, Second Number = 78125

Step 4: You pick a random Prime Number that you don’t tell me. [You pick 3]

Step 5: You do the math, First Number to the power of your Secret Number. [5 ^ 3 = 125]

You: Hey, My Number = 125

Step 6: I do the math, Your Number to the power of my Secret Prime Number. [125 ^ 7 = 4.76837158e14]

Step 7: You do the math, My Second Number to the power of Your Secret Number. [78125 ^ 3 = 4.76837158e14]

Me: OK, We’re good to go

Both you and I are now in possession of a Shared Secret of 4.76837158e14. This Shared Secret will serve as the encryption key for any future communication between us.

This works because exponential math is not affected by the order in which the multiplications are done, and it is virtually impossible for an interested third party to calculate the Shared Secret as they are not in possession of the two numbers that were kept secret.

Steven Cholerton
Arten Science
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Tags: Security Software, R10CipherIV, R10Cipher, CuteCipher, Shared Secret

R10Cipher has recently been updated to support the sending of Encrypted Tweets from directly within the application.

What this does is allow a message to be sent using an existing public communications mechanism and yet only understood by the recipient(s) with the Shared Secret needed to decode the message.

If your message exceeds the 140 character Twitter limit then R10Cipher splits it for you automatically and sends the message as consecutive tweets.

This latest 4.5.0 release of R10Cipher is a free upgrade for existing customers, or R10Cipher can be purchased for £10. http://www.r10cipher.com

Steven Cholerton
Arten Science
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Tags: New Product, TwitQwik, Twitter, Twitter Client, R10Cipher, Encryption, Security Software

cuteCipher started selling in Japan yesterday. I have no idea what this webpage says but I have confidence in my Japanese distributor, Infinisys, that it’s all present and correct

You can see the live webpage here: http://www.infinisys.co.jp/product/cutecipher/

Steven Cholerton
Arten Science
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Tags: CuteCipher, Security Software, Encryption, Software News

Updates have been released to both R10Cipher and cuteCipher today. Both products now have the option to ‘Delete Original File after Successful Encryption’. This update is in response to user feedback, and will please many people

In addition as mentioned in the recent Press Release, R10CIpher and cuteCipher have been ‘de-bundled’ (Have I invented a new word ?) and are now available separately at £9.99 each, making them ever better value.



Steven Cholerton
Arten Science
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Tags: R10CipherIV, CuteCipher, Software News, Software Release, Software Update, Encryption, Security Software