Picocrypt NG is a lightweight application designed to encrypt individual files and collections of files without requiring encrypted filesystems or disk volumes. It continues development of the original Picocrypt project, which is now archived.
Users select files, enter a password and create an encrypted volume using XChaCha20 encryption and Argon2id key derivation. The application provides additional options for protecting against data corruption, splitting large volumes and obscuring the presence of encrypted information. Recent security changes have disabled the creation of new keyfile-based volumes, although supported older volumes can still be decrypted.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Uses XChaCha20 encryption with Argon2id password-based key derivation.
- Offers paranoid mode with additional Serpent encryption and HMAC-SHA3 authentication.
- Provides Reed–Solomon error correction to help recover data affected by corruption.
- Supports splitting encrypted volumes into smaller chunks for storage or transfer.
- Offers optional Deflate compression before encryption.
- Supports deniable volumes designed to resemble random data.
- Can encrypt files recursively as separate encrypted outputs.
- Includes desktop and command-line interfaces, with decryption support for compatible legacy keyfile volumes.
Website: github.com/Picocrypt-NG/Picocrypt-NG
Support:
Developer: Picocrypt-NG contributors
License: GNU General Public License v3.0
Picocrypt NG is written in Go. Learn Go with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| GUI File Encryption Tools | |
|---|---|
| GpgFrontend | Qt frontend for OpenPGP encryption, signing and key management |
| Cryptomator | Multi-platform transparent client-side encryption of files in the cloud |
| VeraCrypt | Strong disk encryption software (File and Disk) |
| Picocrypt NG | Community-developed continuation of the archived Picocrypt project |
| KGpg | KDE frontend for GnuPG with encryption and key management |
| Picocrypt | Very small (hence Pico), very simple, yet very secure encryption tool |
| Kleopatra | KDE tool for managing X.509 and OpenPGP certificates |
| Vaults | Create encrypted vaults in which you can safely store files |
| SiriKali | Qt/C++ GUI front end |
| Qccrypt | Qt cross-platform frontend for the ccrypt command-line tool |
| PGPTool | Java-based desktop GUI for PGP decryption/encryption |
| OpaqueFiles | Store or archive files in the cloud |
| Volaris for Desktop | Wrapper for Volaris |
| File Lock PEA | Password Encrypting Archive |
| Hideout | Simple drag-and-drop file encryption and decryption using GnuPG |
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