English | Français | Español | Deutsch | Português | Türkçe | 中文 | русский | Magyar | Italiano

Picocrypt

Picocrypt is a very small (hence Pico), very simple, yet very secure encryption tool that you can use to protect your files. It's designed to be the go-to tool for encryption, with a focus on security, simplicity, and reliability. Picocrypt uses the secure XChaCha20 cipher and the Argon2id key derivation function to provide a high level of security, even from three-letter agencies like the NSA. It's designed for maximal security, making absolutely no compromises security-wise, and is built with Go's standard x/crypto modules. Your privacy and security is under attack. Take it back with confidence by protecting your files with Picocrypt.

Picocrypt

# Funding Please donate to Picocrypt on Open Collective (crypto is accepted) to raise money for a potential audit from Cure53. Because this is a project that I spend many hours on and make no money from, I cannot pay for an audit myself. Picocrypt needs support from its community. # Downloads ## Windows Picocrypt for Windows is as simple as it gets. To download the latest, standalone, and portable executable for Windows, click here. If Windows Defender or your antivirus flags Picocrypt as a virus, please do your part and submit it as a false positive for the betterment of everyone. ## macOS Picocrypt for macOS is very simple as well. Download Picocrypt here, extract the zip file, and run Picocrypt which is inside. If you can't open Picocrypt because it's not from a verified developer, right click on Picocrypt and hit "Open". If you still get the warning, right click on Picocrypt and hit "Open" again and you should be able to start Picocrypt. ## Linux A Snap is available for Linux. Assuming you're on a Debian-based system, a simple `apt install snapd` and `snap install picocrypt` will be enough. For other distros such as Fedora, detailed instructions are available at https://snapcraft.io/picocrypt. Due to the complexity of dependencies and static linking, I don't distribute standalone .deb or .rpm binaries because they would be unreliable and not worth the hassle. Snapcraft manages all dependencies and runtimes automatically and is the recommended way to run Picocrypt on any major Linux distribution. Additionally, Snapcraft provides better security and containerization than Flatpaks and AppImages, which is important for an encryption tool like Picocrypt. If you would prefer not to deal with Canonical, remember that building from source is always an option. ## Paranoid Packs The Paranoid Pack is a compressed archive that contains executables for every version of Picocrypt ever released for Windows, macOS, and Linux. As long as you have it stored in a place you can access, you'll be able to open it and use any version of Picocrypt in case this repository mysteriously vanishes or the entire Internet burns down. Think of it as a seed vault for Picocrypt. As long as one person has the Paranoid Pack within reach, they can share it with the rest of the world and keep Picocrypt functional in cases of catastrophic events like GitHub shutting down suddenly or the NSA capturing me (just in case, you know?). The best way to ensure Picocrypt is accessible many decades from now is to keep a Paranoid Pack in a safe place. So if you are worried about being unable to access Picocrypt in the future, well, here's your solution. Just head to the Releases tab and get yourself a copy. # Why Picocrypt? Why should you use Picocrypt instead of BitLocker, NordLocker, VeraCrypt, AxCrypt, or 7-Zip? Here are a few reasons why you should choose Picocrypt: # Comparison Here's a brief comparison of Picocrypt to other popular encryption tools. | | Picocrypt | VeraCrypt | 7-Zip (GUI) | NordLocker | BitLocker | AxCrypt | | -------------- | -------------- | -------------- | -------------- | -------------- | -------------- | -------------- | | Free |✅ Yes |✅ Yes |✅ Yes |🟧 Partially |🟧 Partially |🟧 Partially | | Open Source |✅ GPLv3 |✅ Multi |✅ LGPL |❌ No |❌ No |❌ No | | Cross-Platform |✅ Yes |✅ Yes |❌ No |❌ No |❌ No |❌ No | | Size |✅ 2MB |❌ 20MB |✅ 2MB |❌ 60MB |✅ Included |🟧 8MB | | Portable |✅ Yes |✅ Yes |❌ No |❌ No |✅ Yes |✅ Yes | | Permissions |✅ None |❌ Admin |❌ Admin |❌ Admin |❌ Admin |❌ Admin | | Ease-Of-Use |✅ Easy |❌ Hard |✅ Easy |🟧 Medium |🟧 Medium |✅ Easy | | Key Derivation |✅ Argon2 |🆗 PBKDF2 |❌ SHA256 |✅ Argon2 |❓ Unknown |🆗 PBKDF2 | | Data Integrity |✅ Always |❌ No |❌ No |✅ Always |❓ Unknown |✅ Always | | Reed-Solomon |✅ Yes |❌ No |❌ No |❌ No |❌ No |❌ No | | Compression |✅ Yes |❌ No |✅ Yes |❌ No |✅ Yes |✅ Yes | | Phones Home |✅ Never |✅ Never |✅ Never |❌ Analytics |❓ Unknown |❌ Accounts | | Audited |🟧 Planned |✅ Yes |❌ No |❓ Unknown |❓ Unknown |❌ No | # Features Picocrypt is a very simple tool, and most users will intuitively understand how to use it in a few seconds. On a basic level, simply dropping your files, entering a password, and hitting Start is all that's needed to encrypt your files. Pretty simple, right? While being simple, Picocrypt also strives to be powerful in the hands of knowledgeable and advanced users. Thus, there are some additional options that you may use to suit your needs. # Security For more information on how Picocrypt handles cryptography, see Internals for the technical details. If you're worried about the safety of me or this project, let me assure you that this repository won't be hijacked or backdoored. I have 2FA (TOTP) enabled on all accounts with a tie to Picocrypt (GitHub, Google, Reddit, Ubuntu One/Snapcraft, Discord, etc.), in addition to full-disk encryption on all of my portable devices. For further hardening, Picocrypt uses my isolated forks of dependencies and I fetch upstream only when I have taken a look at the changes and believe that there aren't any security issues. This means that if a dependency gets hacked or deleted by the author, Picocrypt will be using my fork of it and remain completely unaffected. You can feel confident about using Picocrypt. # Community Here are some places where you can stay up to date with Picocrypt and get involved: I highly recommend you join Picocrypt's subreddit because all updates and polls will be posted there. Remember to only trust these social networks and be aware of hackers that might try to impersonate me. I will never ask you for your password, and anyone who does is not me. I will never tell you to download a file from a suspicious link, and anyone who does is not me. # Stargazers How's Picocrypt doing? Take a look below to find out. ![Stargazers Over Time](https://starchart.cc/HACKERALERT/Picocrypt.svg) # Donations If you find Picocrypt useful, please consider tipping my PayPal. I'm providing this software completely free of charge, and would love to have some supporters that will motivate me to continue my work on Picocrypt. # Thank You's A thank you from the bottom of my heart to the people on Open Collective who have made a significant contribution: You are the people who inspire me to work on Picocrypt and provide it free of charge to everyone! Also, a huge thanks to the following list of five people, who were the first to donate and support Picocrypt: As well, a great thanks to these people, who have helped translate Picocrypt and make it more accessible to the world: Finally, thanks to these people for helping me out when needed: