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I am on OS X 10.8.3, savvy with a command-line and I want to use OpenSSL to start encrypting sensitive information on my MacBook Pro
I know that I can use openSSL in a syntax like:
openssl enc -aes-256-ecb -in in.txt -out encrypted.txt
Can anyone explain what encryption type to use and why?
Also, Can I paste in a string to that openSSL command and get back an encrypted string to store in a file? (say a password list). Store each password encrypted in the text file and then encrypt the entire file as well.
I also assume that one can encrypt one way, then encrypt a second time using a different method for added protection.
if I encrypt this on OS X I also assume that I could decrypt it on Linux.
For encrypting files most conveniently, GPG would definitely be recommended over OpenSSL.
– Celada – 2013-03-25T16:18:19.6301Also, the second argument to
openssl
is not an "encryption type" but a subcommand, to tell it what kind of action to take. For example, manupulation of X.509 certificates, manipulation of keys, signing, encryption, certificate generation, message digest calculation, etc... – Celada – 2013-03-25T16:20:25.997Go with AES. It is widely supported. – Zoredache – 2013-03-25T18:06:47.090
@Zoredache There are 18 AES options offered by
openssl enc
: cbc, cfb, cfb1, cfb8, ecb and ofb, each in 128/192/256 bit. – Daniel Beck – 2013-03-25T19:51:41.350