All DSM Encryption Plugins
General information
- ARC4/RC4 is significantly faster (hundreds of times) than AES, but CPU speed is not much of a factor for newer computers. Still, this should be considered when dealing with large terminal server environments or low-spec machines
- The Microsoft Crypto API provides a slightly faster implementation of ARC4 as compared to OpenSSL, although the difference is negligible
- ARC4 is a stream cipher, and AES emulates that behavior via OFB mode. This allows the encrypted data to remain the same size as the original data
- ARC4 == Alleged RC4, since the official RC4 algorithm is secret
- All plugins assume Windows 2000 at minimum
- Although all plugins are Windows-only, the OpenSSL implementations should be relatively simple to be implemented on other platforms
SecureVNC
- No pre-shared key or password required; simply secures communication from outside observers using key exchange.
- The standard, built-in VNC password mechanism can be used to authorize access
- Optional client authorization keys can also securely authenticate access
- Provides passphrase override for UltraVNC
- Other UltraVNC authentication methods can be used as well, such as mslogon
- No setup required; can be used from any viewer simply by including the plugin. Server can optionally pre-generate the RSA key, otherwise it will be automatically generated
- OpenSSL 0.9.8o
- 32-bit and 64-bit Windows
- Threadsafe uvnc >=1.0.8.x (supports multiple viewers on a server)
- Up to 3072-bit RSA public key cryptography
- Symmetric key encryption using AES, AES-CFB, 3AES-CFB, ARC4, Blowfish, IDEA, CAST5
- AES recommended cipher; however per industry recommendations, intial 3072 bytes of ARC4 keystream (if used) are discarded
- Known to work properly
- Actively developed
- Created by Adam D. Walling aka [user=18001]adzm[/user] (http://adamwalling.com/SecureVNC)
- Uses pre-shared key and/or password.
- Setup requires distribution of pre-shared key (if used) and/or the password (if used).
- OpenSSL 0.9.8k (latest stable version; migration to OpenSSL 1.0.0 planned when officially marked stable, probably later in 2009)
- 32-bit Windows only (64-bit may be created by merging changes from SecureVNC if enough interest, but developer recommends SecureVNC instead. If you have tried SecureVNC but still want this 64-bit, please let [user=18001]me[/user] know via PM)
- Threadsafe (supports multiple viewers on a server)
- 128-bit AES symmetric key encryption with salt (IV is ignored by OpenSSL but kept for attempted (but unsuccessful) backwards compatibility with AESV2Plugin)
- Known to work properly
- Developer recommending SecureVNC; however, major bugs will be fixed
- Created by Adam D. Walling aka [user=18001]adzm[/user] (http://adamwalling.com/DSMPlugin) based off of AESV2Plugin created by Sean E. Covel (http://msrc4plugin.home.comcast.net/~ms ... index.html)
- Uses pre-shared key and/or password.
- Setup requires distribution of pre-shared key (if used) and/or the password (if used).
- OpenSSL 0.9.8k
- 32-bit Windows only (64-bit may be created by merging changes from SecureVNC if enough interest, but developer recommends SecureVNC instead. If you have tried SecureVNC but still want this 64-bit, please let [user=18001]me[/user] know via PM)
- Threadsafe (supports multiple viewers on a server)
- 128-bit ARC4 symmetric key encryption with salt (IV is ignored by OpenSSL but kept for attempted (but unsuccessful) backwards compatibility with ARC4Plugin/MSRC4Plugin)
- Beginning of keystream is not discarded; theoretically, this can leak information regarding the key
- Known to work properly
- Developer recommending SecureVNC; however, major bugs will be fixed
- Created by Adam D. Walling aka [user=18001]adzm[/user] (http://adamwalling.com/DSMPlugin) based off of AESV2Plugin created by Sean E. Covel (http://msrc4plugin.home.comcast.net/~ms ... index.html)
[1.2.2 publicly available on website, 1.2.4 available with UltraVNC]
[redge: MSRC4 1.2.2 not compatible vista as user mode and config button crash winvnc]
- Uses pre-shared key and/or password.
- Setup requires distribution of pre-shared key (if used) and/or the password (if used).
- Microsoft Crypto API
- 32-bit Windows only (64-bit may be in beta but not publicly available (?))
- Not threadsafe (only one viewer on a server)
- 40-, 56-, or 128-bit (depends on OS and patch level) ARC4 symmetric key encryption, supposedly with unique IV (uncertain if mscrypto actually uses the IV; in OpenSSL, it is ignored.) Salt was removed due to issues with Windows 2000 compatibilty.
- Beginning of keystream is not discarded; theoretically, this can leak information regarding the key
- Known to work properly, although sometimes runs into issues due to Microsoft Crypto API issues
- May still be actively developed (?)
- Created by Sean E. Covel (http://msrc4plugin.home.comcast.net/~ms ... index.html)
- Uses pre-shared key and/or password.
- Setup requires distribution of pre-shared key (if used) and/or the password (if used).
- OpenSSL (version unknown)
- 32-bit Windows only
- Not threadsafe (only one viewer on a server)
- 128-bit ARC4 symmetric key encryption with salt (IV is included but OpenSSL ignores it)
- Beginning of keystream is not discarded; theoretically, this can leak information regarding the key
- Several known crashes and bugs; not recommended
- Not actively developed
- Created by Sean E. Covel (http://msrc4plugin.home.comcast.net/~ms ... index.html)
- Uses pre-shared key and/or password.
- Setup requires distribution of pre-shared key (if used) and/or the password (if used).
- OpenSSL (version unknown)
- 32-bit Windows only
- Not threadsafe (only one viewer on a server)
- 128-bit ARC4 symmetric key encryption with salt (IV is included but OpenSSL ignores it)
- Beginning of keystream is not discarded; theoretically, this can leak information regarding the key
- Several known crashes and bugs; not recommended
- Not actively developed
- Created by Sean E. Covel (http://msrc4plugin.home.comcast.net/~ms ... index.html)