Maznik Files

************** READ ME FILE FOR MAZNIK 1 ***************

CAUTION:
    DO NOT SEND THIS PROGRAM TO ANYONE OUTSIDE THE
    CONTIGUOUS U.S. AS THERE ARE FEDERAL LAWS THAT
    MAY BE INFRINGED BY DOING SO. THESE LAWS CHANGE
    OFTEN, SO CHECK THE MOST RECENT LAWS BEFORE
    SENDING THIS PROGRAM TO ANYONE. THE PROGRAMMER
    TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE USE OR MISUSE
    OF THIS PROGRAM, NOR ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY-
    THING THAT MAY OCCUR WHILE USING THIS PROGRAM.

****************** ABOUT THE PROGRAM *******************

 This Program has only been tested using Windows 95/98.

 This is a NO COMPROMISE encryption program. It's 
weakest link is the LENGTH of the KEY that you choose to use.

- The KEY length can be anywhere from 4 to 32 
  characters.
- The TEXT to be enciphered can be up to 32000 char-
  acters long.
- This program DOES NOT encipher any file. It is 
  designed to encipher TEXT ONLY. It is also designed to   allow you to enter enciphered text from a printout, so
  there are limitations as to what characters can be
  entered when entering en-de-ciphered text. Make sure
  you are in the correct mode ('Entering Plain Text' or
  'Entering Ciphered Text') when entering text.
- LOWER case text is NOT SUPPORTED in this program.
  Do not paste text into the program, save the text
  to a file and then open it in Maznik.
- Save an enciphered E-Mail message to a file and then
  open it in Maznik. This will assure that the extra
  characters that the E-Mail may contain are eliminated
  before Maznik opens it.

 This program is FREEWARE, disseminate as you wish, all
in the interest of being able to retain at least some
privacy in this world of continually reduced autonomy.

******************* HOW TO OPERATE *********************

BUTTONS DESCRIPTION:

-See/Hide Key
	If this button shows See Key then the Key entry
	is hidden and vice-versa.
-See/Hide Text
	If this button shows See Text then the text
	entry area is blank and you cannot enter text.
	You can open, save, print, en-de cipher while
	the text entry area is blank. This allows you to
	instantly blank out any text displayed if so
	desired. Pressing the button again will restore
	whatever text was there.
-Encipher/Decipher Message
	This button will either encipher or decipher
	the currently displayed text.
-Plain/Ciphered
	This button selects the text entry mode that
	the program is in.
-Clear
	This button will clear the displayed text. It
	also allows the exiting of the reply mode when
	Msg. Name shows a file name instead of 'New or
	Reply Message'.
-Reply
	This button becomes active when a message is
	opened from a file. When pushed, the program
	will enter the reply mode. Reply mode allows
	you to write a reply to one or more messages
	easily by referencing back to the original
	message while entering your reply.
-Restore
	Only active in the reply mode. This button
	switches you back and forth between your
	reply and the message you are replying to.
	You can keep your place in whichever text
	you are viewing by clicking on the bottom
	of the text area that you want to remain 
	viewed as you switch back and forth.
-Open
	Open a file. Not active in reply mode while
	showing your reply message, but is active
	while displaying the message to be replied to.
	This allows you to write one reply to multiple
	messages (replying to multiple e-mail messages
	from the same person, etc.).
-Save, Print and Exit
	These do as indicated by their name.
-Picture Window
	This button opens another window that allows
	you to open a 24bit picture file. If you have
	pictures that you want to use that are not
	24bit, then open the picture in any paint
	program and then save it as a 24bit picture.
	* using this portion of the program allows
	  you to save 24bit picture files with plain
	  or ciphered text randomly distributed with-
	  in the picture. You can also send picture
	  E-Mails that contain your text. This provides
	  increased security in that your text is not
	  only encrypted, but also hidden within a
	  picture.

*Remember 'Entering Plain Text' and 'Entering Ciphered 
Text' modes alter some of the types of characters that 
you can enter, so make sure you are in the correct mode 
for what you are entering.

 You can enter the KEY then just hit enter and the pro-
gram will encipher/decipher without having to "push"
the Encipher/Decipher button.

********************** PRINTING ************************

 This program sets margins and page lengths. A header
and a footer is shown for each page. A page is 64
characters by 48 lines. If the printout is different
you may want to try changing the settings on your
printer.
 Enciphered text that is printed can be typed into the
program allowing you to only retain a hard copy instead
of saving to disk. WARNING, if you choose to print the
KEY LENGTH so that you will have a clue as to what key 
you used to encipher the message, remember that this will also give a clue to anyone trying to break the cipher. If you do not need this clue, choose not to 
print the key length.

******************** FILE HANDLING *********************

 Files saved using this program use either *.ecp or 
*.dcp file extensions. *.ecp are saved enciphered files
while *.dcp are saved deciphered files. Either file
type can be opened by any text handling program.
You can open .ecp,.dcp,.eml,.txt and *.* files.

-Opening files that cannot be enciphered by this program
 will be terminated and will not be loaded. The criteria
 for this is that what will be enciphered can be printed
 and then be entered by hand off the printed page. If
 characters are in the file that would be enciphered
 into a non-enterable character then loading of the file
 is terminated.
-If a file greater than 32000 but less than 64001
 characters is opened, then the program will only load
 the first 32000 characters and the rest of the file 
 will not be loaded. Files greater than 64000 characters
 will be terminated.
-If you have an existing file that you only want to load
 a portion of, you can open it using a text handling
 program and put 5 } before the desired text and 5 }
 after the desired text and then save it. You can then
 open the file in Maznik and only the text between the
 two 5 } entries will be loaded. Maznik saves all of
 its files with 5 } before and after the desired text.
 If you open an existing Maznik file with a text hand-
 ling program you will also see a space 0 or 1 then
 another space just before the ending 5 }, this just 
 tells the program if the file is an enciphered or a 
 deciphered file. The 5 } shown above is not a 5 space }
 it is 5 '}' characters in a row with no spaces. It is
 written in this manner so that you can read this file
 in Maznik, otherwise the 5 }'s would limit the amount
 of text from this file that Maznik would load.

******************** ABOUT SECURITY ********************

 The KEY LENGTH is all important with respect to the
ultimate security of your enciphered text. This can
easily be seen by considering the following;

- You can enter in 63 different characters for each KEY
  character that you enter. So, if you enter the minimum
  of 4 KEY characters then you would have to try 63E4
  different keys to "guess" the proper key. That means
  you would have to enter the guessed key then try a
  decipher 15,752,961 times-NOT very practical for some-
  one doing this while using the program. Now, if you
  use 32 KEY characters it would require 63E32 or
  3.79...to the 57 power times to use the enter key try
  a decipher method-impossible! Now you can see why
  security depends on key length.
- Unless you are worried about some 3 letter agency
  being interested in your enciphered message, a 4 
  length key may even be good enough. Make sure that you   pick a key that would be hard for someone to guess. 
  Keys like your child's name, your address or certain 
  digits of your phone number etc., should be AVOIDED.

********************** TECHNICAL ***********************

 The programmer is reluctant to explain exactly how this program enciphers plain text, but there are some 
things that can be mentioned.

- There are NO BACK DOORS or any other compromise in key
  length or key use.
- The program uses MANY random generators which are all
  different and some are of different sequence lengths.
- The KEY is used as it is entered and also after it
  has been enciphered using a different algorithm than
  what enciphers the TEXT.
- Other processes are used on the KEY and the TEXT
  during the enciphering of both.
- If someone has a copy of the source code it cannot aid
  them in being able to decipher TEXT without the KEY.
- The KEY and/or PLAIN TEXT will not be left anywhere
  in RAM after exiting the program. The exception to
  this is if you choose to SAVE or PRINT DECIPHERED
  TEXT.
  The KEY is still destroyed during this exception.

******************** MORE TECHNICAL ********************

 If there are any mathematical short cuts to deciphering
an enciphered message using Maznik, the progammer is
completely unaware of any such methods. This is not to
say that there are none. If the program were to be de-
engineered then attacked with multiple super computers,
no one could predict the outcome. To the programmer's
knowledge this attack would not compromise the cipher's
integrity, but as some of you may know, the Germans
during WWII thought the same thing about their Enigma
and more advanced Mod 2 ciphering machines. The Allies
were able to break these ciphers by a combination of
the short comings of the machines, operational errors,
machine configuration and genius. If Maznik is "USED
PROPERLY" it should be equivalent to a "one time pad"
which is considered unbreakable.

 The meaning of "USED PROPERLY" for maximum security;
-Do not encipher more than 100,000 characters with
 the same key. Remember, you can always send someone
 a new key in an enciphered message.
-Do not, very often, start or end different messages 
 with the same text. Maznik does circumvent this problem
 to a large extent, but for maximum security follow 
 this advice.
-Remember about not using a key that someone can guess.
-Keep messages as short as possible.
-Use a key that is at least 27 characters long and
 uses characters that are not limited to normal words.
 Example:
   use [4$G%^1(:HV!;<D] instead of [THIS IS MY KEY]
 Of course, the problem is trying to remember the first
 key illustrated, but remember this is only necessary
 for MAXIMUM security.

 For most of you that may use this program, the only
above suggestion that MUST be followed is not to use
a key that someone can guess. Otherwise, you need not
necessarily adhere to the above.