P.T.E. Help

(Touch a letter or scroll down for more topics)

Other Topics

• Quick Start
• Steganography

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• Session Password
• Settings
• Forgotten Password
• System Clipboard
• Format Specifications
• FAQ

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 Demonstration Video
 
 Online Version (AES)

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Desktop Versions Download:
 
 

File & Text Encryption for macOS

(file and text encrypter for macOS - pkg file)

 
 

File & Text Encryption for Windows

(file and text encrypter for Windows - msi file)

Quick Start

Encryption

• Set a password for the current session.
• Write or paste a text into the "Unencrypted Text" area (Section A within the image).
• Tap the Encrypt button.
• An encrypted text will appear in the "Encrypted Text" area (Section B within the image).
• Copy the encrypted text to the system clipboard and use it wherever you want or save it to a file for later use (Sections H and I within the image).

Decryption

• Set a password for the current session.
• Write or paste an encrypted text into the "Encrypted Text" area (Section B within the image).
• Tap the Decrypt button.
• A decrypted text will appear in the "Unencrypted Text" area (Section A within the image).
• Copy the unencrypted text to the system clipboard and use it wherever you want or save it to a file for later use (Sections E and F within the image).

Steganography

• The application includes a steganographic feature, which conceals text within a JPG image. The steganographic F5 algorithm is used in conjunction with the chosen symmetric cipher algorithm to create a final steganogram (JPEG image). For more details, see here.
• IMPORTANT NOTE: This feature is intended for experienced users. Some communication applications (like WhatsApp, Viber, Messenger), as well as iTunes PC synchronization, may resize or recompress images, which can corrupt the concealed data due to the lossy compression used by JPGs. Therefore, please test all your intended workflows and use cases to verify the process.

Creating a Steganogram
• Set a password for the current session.
• Enter or paste the text you want to encrypt (and conceal) into the "Unencrypted Text" field (Section A in the image).
• Tap the "More" button (bottom-right corner - J).
• Select "Steganography".
• Select "Encrypt and Create Steganogram".
• Choose a carrier image.
• Here you can modify the output image parameters. Then tap the "Continue" button.
• Set an output file name and tap the "Continue" button.
• The steganogram will be created and saved. Please be patient, as this process may take some time.

Decrypting from a Steganogram
• Set a password for the current session.
• Tap the "More" button (bottom-right corner - J).
• Select "Steganography".
• Select "Decrypt from Steganogram".
• Choose a steganogram (created by P.T.E.).
• The decrypted text will appear in the "Unencrypted Text" field (Section A in the image).
• Copy the decrypted text to your system's clipboard and use it as needed.

Session Password

• The Paranoia Text Encryption app does not function like a standard "Vault" application. Instead of setting a password to access the application, a password is set for each encryption/decryption session. You may have an unlimited number of passwords for any purpose - different files, tasks, people etc.

Settings

• Enc. Algorithm: Choose an encryption algorithm (the decryption algorithm will be detected automatically). Options: AES 256bit, RC6 256bit, Serpent 256bit, Blowfish 448bit, Twofish 256bit (+ Threefish 1024bit and SHACAL-2 512bit in the Pro Version).
• Final Encoding: Select an output text encoding. Available encodings include Base64 (PTE default), Base32 (RFC 4648), and Numbers Only (0-9).
• Add Space: Choose to add a space after every Nth character in encoded texts.
• Output Album Name: Determine the album where steganograms will be saved.
• Text Size: Specify the text size in both text fields.
• Lock Screen: (iOS version only) Enable screen locking using the current session password when the app is minimized. A session password must be set!
• Prefill Filename: The most recently used filename will be prefilled in the "save to file" dialog.

Forgotten Password

• There's no "backdoor" method to decrypt any text without the correct password. If you forget your password, we're unable to retrieve it.

System Clipboard

• Some systems refer to the clipboard as the pasteboard.
• For more information, you can search Google using terms such as iphone copy paste.
• The App Demonstration Video or Shorter Version (30s) can provide further assistance.

A - Unencrypted Text Area

• Enter the text you want to encrypt in this area.
or
• The decrypted text will appear in this area after decryption.

B - Encrypted Text Area

• Enter the encrypted text you wish to decrypt in this area.
or
• The encrypted text will appear in this area after encryption.


• The text in this area turns red when one of the text fields (unencrypted/encrypted) is modified, and the data in the other field no longer corresponds to the actual value.
• The text in this area turns blue when the encrypted text has not been utilized (copied, saved).

C - Set Password Button

• Set a Session Password.
• The color of this button changes based on the current password strength (red = weak, yellow = fair, green = strong).

D - Encrypt/Decrypt Buttons

• Encrypt the text in the "Unencrypted Text" area and display the result in the "Encrypted Text" area.
• Decrypt the encrypted text in the "Encrypted Text" area and display the result in the "Unencrypted Text" area.

E - Import/Export Unencrypted Text

• Copy the text from the "Unencrypted Text" area to the System Clipboard.
• Paste the text from the System Clipboard into the "Unencrypted Text" area.
• Load text from a file or save text to a file (for "Unencrypted Text" area).
• Folder: ../P.T.E./Documents/unencrypted
• ...

F - Erase Text Areas

• Clear both text areas.

G - Maximize/Minimize

• Maximize or Minimize the unencrypted text area.

H - Import/Export Encrypted Text

• Copy the text from the "Encrypted Text" area to the system clipboard.
• Paste the text from the system clipboard into the "Encrypted Text" area.
• Load text from a file or save text to a file (for "Encrypted Text" area).
• Folder: ../P.T.E./Documents/encrypted
• ...

I - More Options Button

Includes:
• Settings
• Steganography
• Help
• About the Application

Frequently Asked Questions

Issue: The text is decrypted even when I change the algorithm in the application settings. How is that possible?

Answer: You can set an ENCRYPTION algorithm (the decryption algorithm is detected automatically - information about the used algorithm is part of the application data format).

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Issue: The application produces a completely different output (using the same input) whenever I tap the encrypt button. How is that possible?

Answer: Two words for DuckDuckGo, Google (or some other search engine): cryptographic salt.

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Issue: I forgot my password. Can you help me?

Answer: No, there is no backdoor. It's the purpose of the application. All data are encrypted (mathematically altered) using the password. Without the password you can't reverse the process and "reconstruct" original data. We can't help you. Nobody can. The correct password is the only way.

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Issue: Why can't I use other application(s) that work with the same ciphers? For example AES to decrypt texts?

Answer: It isn't only about an encryption algorithm, there are many other pieces: encryption mode (CBC, CFB, PCBC, OFB, CRT, CWC, EAX, ...), password processing (KDF - Key Derivation Function), compression etc... Detailed format specifications can be found here.

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Issue: Why doesn't the application use fingerprints to access encrypted files?

Answer: All data is fully encrypted (mathematically altered), and exact encryption key matching is required to perform decryption. Without a 100% correct key, the process can't be reversed to "reconstruct" the original data. Fingerprints are typically used for authentication - the originals are stored and compared during the authentication process, but the data is only hidden, not encrypted. Reliable encryption using fingerprints, including generating a secure encryption key from them, has not been accomplished to date - there have been only a few unreliable experiments. Importantly, fingerprints are not secret and cannot be changed. If someone obtains a copy of your fingerprints (which is quite easy to do, as you leave your 'password' on everything you touch), all of your data, past and present, would be accessible to them. P.F.E. will NEVER use biometric data, either directly or indirectly, for ENCRYPTION purposes.