BCArchive software

The BCArchive software is designed to compress a group of files/folders to a single encrypted file. The following options to encrypt data are implemented:

Create compressed and encrypted archive file protected by password.
Create compressed and encrypted archive file encrypted using the public key of another user.
Add several passwords to an existing archive file.
Apply more than one public keys to an archive file enabling a number of users to decrypt the archive.
Generate new or use existing secret/public key pairs in PKCS-12/X.509 format.
Compress and encrypt data to a self-extracted executable program. The user can run the program and extract the data even on a computer where BCArchive is not installed.

BCArchive enables the use of existing public key databases, such as those created for PGP software, which have been used world-wide for many years. BCArchive utilizes the following encryption algorithms, standards and specifications:

Symmetric algorithms: Rijndael (AES), Blowfish-256, Blowfish-448, IDEA, CAST5, GOST 28147-89, Triple DES.
Secure Hash Algorithms: SHA-256, SHA-1, MD5 and RIPEMD-160.
Asymmetric (public/secret key pair) algorithms: RSA, ElGamal / Diffie-Hellman.
Specifications for public/secret key pair format: PKCS #12, X.509.
PKCS #5 recommendations for the implementation of password-based cryptography.
RFC 2440 specifications for session keys encrypted by symmetric or public key encryption algorithms.

BCArchive is available for 32/64-bit Windows Vista/XP/2003 Server/2000/NT/ME/9x operating systems.

Why BCArchive?

Compression utilities such as Zip, Arj, RAR and many others are really helpful in saving hard disk space. However, in many cases the data we compress is private. The question of privacy is even more important when we wish to send compressed data over insecure Internet connections.

There are powerful encryption algorithms and technologies that can help people to keep their private data in a secure form. But it is important:

to use the right tool for the job;
that at every stage in the process of securing the data, — standard algorithms (with an established powerful capability) are used;
that the risk of improper use of encryption by inexperienced people is minimized.

Using BCArchive is very simple yet very secure. Let's say you want to back up some data and store it as compressed, encrypted archive on your hard drive. All you need to do is specify a password for the archive when you create it and enter the same password to decrypt and extract the data. This simple process requires no special knowledge of encryption.

Use Public Keys to send an encrypted archive. Avoid the need for a Password.

Public/Secret key pair is a pair of sequences of bytes that is generated according to the specification of asymmetric encryption algorithm (like RSA) and used to encrypt/decrypt data.

Public key is not a secret and can be sent to you in any way. The owner of a public key will also have a corresponding secret key, which the owner alone knows.

Where your recipient owns a public/secret key pair, — you can use the public key to encrypt an archive instead of using a password.

Once you have encrypted the archive file with the public key, it can only be decrypted by your recipient using his/her corresponding secret key.

This technology is used in widely known Pretty Good Privacy software (PGP) and a number of specifications and standards were issued to make using the technology as secure as possible.

Use self-extracting archives. Avoid the need for installing BCArchive by your recipient.

By using a Public/Secret key you avoid the risks associated with transmitting the password to your recipient, but your recipient would need compatible software to decrypt the data you send. Unless you correspond regularly, it's very unlikely that this situation would exist and who wants the inconvenience of installing yet another bit of software just to read one bit of information?

BCArchive overcomes this difficulty by offering you the facility to create a "self-extracting" file. Data is compressed and encrypted to a single archive file, which is converted to an executable program. At any time thereafter you or your recipient can run the program on any computer and extract the data without installing any special software!

Translations

BCArchive supports a special technology allowing an easy translating the software to any language. At the moment BCArchive is translated to the following languages:

Language	Software Interface Translator	Help File Translator
Arabic	Ali Khojah	—
Chinese	Shao Ziyang	—
English	Jetico, Inc.	Jetico, Inc.
German	Dieter Brauer	Dieter Brauer
Italian	Vladimiro Andreini	—
Russian	Julia Pichueva	—

If you wish to make BCArchive speak your native language and more useful for your compatriots, please contact our Technical Support: support@jetico.com

Changelog

10-April-2008 | v.2.00.2.

An error fixed in BCArchive working on Windows NT.

31-March-2008 | v.2.00.1.

Serpent encryption algorithm added.

26-March-2008 | v.2.0

New features:

Ability to open several files simultaneously.
BCArchive now allows users to choose commands for Windows Shell popup menu.
If BCArchive is installed as a part of BestCrypt, Keyboard Filter works for BCArchive 'Enter password' boxes.

16-November-2007 | v.1.08.8.

Error in iteration counter fixed. Arabic translation updated.

26-October-2007 | v.1.08.7.

The software is translated to Arabic, Chinese and Russian languages.

17-July-2007 | v.1.08.6.

German help file added. Minor improvements.

24-April-2007 | v.1.08.3.

New Synchronization function allows the user to keep a copy of folder in encrypted archive and synchronize contents of the archive and the folder. Added new "Change temporary folder" command to allow the user choosing a folder for temporary extracted files. Problem of encrypting data by public key solved.

13-April-2007 | v.1.08.1.

New functionality added: the user can run BCArchive with command-line parameters to create and send encrypted archive using a public key of a single user or even several users. The functionality can be useful for creating automatic tasks when BCArchive encrypts (and optionally sends) data without requiring additional operations.

05-April-2007 | v.1.08.

Procedure of recovering damaged archives redesigned and enhanced. Since it starts working for containers created by version 1.08+ of the software, it is recommended to move data from earlier created archive files to archives created by the latest version. BCArchive distributive now contains support of German language.

01-July-2005 | v.1.06.

BCArchive now supports Windows XP 64-bit Edition.

02-June-2005 | v.1.05.

Support of the latest definitions for AES encryption algorithm in PGP is added. For compatibility with PGP, BCArchive performs checking of decrypted PGP secret keys using SHA-1 hash algorithm together with earlier standardized MPI checksum.

20-April-2005 | v.1.04.

Problem of opening large archives (more than 32 GB) is solved.

22-February-2005 | v.1.03. Security update

The version includes SHA-256 secure hash algorithm and uses it as a default algorithm instead of SHA-1. The enhancements were made because of critical break in SHA-1 algorithm discovered by Xiaoyun Wang, Yiqun Lisa Yin, and Hongbo Yu researchers from Shandong University. Read more detail about the break found in SHA algorithm on Bruce Schneier Weblog and PCWorld.com

BCArchive now supports additional encryption algorithms: Blowfish-448, GOST 28147-89, Rijndael (AES) and Twofish.

13-January-2005 | v.1.02.2.

Support of old versions of PGP keys format is added.

26-October-2004 | v.1.02.1.

BCArchive released as a freeware product.

20-September-2004 | v.1.01 Beta.

All operations associated with local public/secret key database are included into a separate "Key Manager" module. Hexadecimal viewing of archive contents, extended file search operations and AutoRun functionality are added.

16-April-2004

version 1.00 beta announced.

BCArchive is available for installation as a separate utility or as a part of BestCrypt package. Besides of BCArchive functionality, BestCrypt supports other ways of encrypting data including encrypted virtual drives, encrypting whole volumes/partitions and secure data deleting functionality of BCWipe utility.