How to password protect a file or folder with secure encryption.

Passwords

Icon Lock-iT XP uses 'private key' password protection as part of its encryption algorithm. By default, this password is not stored and is thus completely unrecoverable.

When locking a file, you must enter the password twice as password verification, avoiding a password typo.

You can type in a optional hint in case you forget your password.

Although the encryption algorithm for Icon Lock-iT XP is much greater than the previous 128-bit, the practical security of your files depends on the passwords you use to secure them. You can use any of the 222 ANSI characters in your passwords. Although of those 222 characters, only 94 are easily accessed on the keyboard (letter, number and symbol keys with and without "shift"). Therefore, we'll use 94 for the following calculations.

• If you use a single character password, the odds of someone else keying that password are 1 in 94 since there are 94 possible characters on the keyboard.
  
  
• If you use a two-character password, the chance of someone guessing your password is 1 in 8,836 or 94 multiplied by 94 since each character of the password can be one of 94 keyboard characters.
  
  
• If you use a three-character password, the chance of someone guessing it is 1 in 830,584 or 1 in 94 x 94 x 94.

Another way to look at According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's web site it would take a code cracking machine approximately 149 thousand-billion (149 trillion) years to crack just a 128-bit AES key. Our friendly universe is believed to be less than 20 billion years old, so lock up!

8,836

Password recommendations

• Don't use words or names
• Don't use birthdays
• Use a combination of letters, numbers and symbols
• Use at least six characters
• Use the shift key
• Disable password recovery (must be an administrator)
• Don't tell anyone

Password Hints