Snake oil
Today untrustworthy encryption is widely
spread. It is called Snake oli. This is an allusion to the quack doctors of the last
century who distributed faked miracle cures by doing hair-raising promises. Contemporary
encryption software manufacturer's promises are sometimes in no way inferior to those of
the past.
From time to time you read about new developments which are allegedly unbreakable. Often secret home made developments are employed. In most cases these algorithms are developed by programmers without necessary background information. And the user is not able to determine the decisive difference.
As early as 1883 the Dutch cryptographer Auguste Kerckhoff stated in his book La Cryptographie militaire that only the key used for encryption is a secret - the algorithm by which encryption is performed is not. The algorithm should be publicly available so that possible failures are detected quickly and efficiently.
The best algorithms are worthless if programs provide so called backdoors. These backdoors allow to avoid the security mechanism by a master password.
Another kind of these backdoors are limited key lengths. Many countries restrict the use of 'strong cryptography' and others - like the U.S. - prohibit the export.
Steganos, of course, uses only documented and unrestricted encryption algorithms. There are no backdoors.
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