Encrypting email is a must for the paranoid among us, and Crypto Anywhere provides the tools necessary to encrypt and decrypt email messages. Among its new features are Outlook integration and the ability to create an executable that can run off a floppy or flash disk, thereby circumventing the need to install software on a terminal when using Crypto Anywhere in an internet café.
Installing the application did not prove too taxing. The user interface however is ghastly, but the good news is there are skins available that change the appearance of the interface by installing a different theme (although there were no details of where to find these skins).
The functional aspects of the program were reasonably good and easy to use. It works just like a normal email client.
Messages can be encrypted and decrypted using PGP, OpenPGP, SecExMail and others. The program also offers the choice of self-decrypting messages using a password or public key encryption.
Crypto Anywhere uses strong encryption algorithms based on RSA public key encryption, the Twofish block cipher and the ISAAC random number generator.
The software also integrates with Outlook by clicking on the "Force Encrypt" button then the send button after the message has been written and addressed.
Crypto Anywhere has a direct drop method, which means the email bypasses a corporate SMTP server and goes straight to the recipient's inbox.
When we tried to use this feature we found it failed to send the email. We suspect that we could not use this method in our test lab as our spam filter discarded emails sent in this way.
We think the best feature of this program is the ability to create a "travel" floppy or flash disk to use at internet terminals.
We also appreciate the Outlook and Outlook Express integration. If any email clients need more security it is these. However, it would be nice to include integration for other email clients.
Perhaps the next version should include support for Mozilla mail?
