Padder is a one-time pad software implementation intended for educational
purposes and experimentation. It can be used to encrypt and decrypt small
messages. Padder can also be used to generate fake pads and fake messages.
Padder should not be used in real-world situations that require encryption. If
you need strong message encryption, do not use padder. Use a well-regarded,
open-source OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG (https://gnupg.org/).
The Padder Character Set
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789-
Encryption
padder -e -m black -p e7vwd CipherText: fhvyn
Decryption
padder -d -m fhvyn -p e7vwd PlainText: black
Fake Message and Pad Generation
padder -f -m white -c fhvyn FakePad: uanfj
Message Transmission
The Padder Character Set was selected specifically for message transmission
over radio (HF, VHF, UHF). However, messages can be transmitted in other ways.
Twitter, text messages, phone calls and website forums could all be used to
send and receive messages. Encrypted messages could also be embedded in image
tags, HTML, or some other inconspicuous place.
Decrypt the Same Ciphertext to Multiple Plaintexts
One-time pad encrypted messages can be decrypted to virtually any plaintext
message by using different pads. This feature is useful for creating
diversions. It may also provide for plausible deniability. This requires two
(or more) sets of pads.
Real Message
ptxt: we-are-moving-north-and-will-attack-at-the-pass ctxt: c2wrbumxvj8gob34mxn46pxg29a6kxnwfhcaam3en-hr-2v pad: ryxrvqnlhz04icqq6eg56cuhg10vlx5dff3ba44wg6ic-kd
Fake Message
ptxt: our-group-fled-south-to-the-city-we-sailed-east ctxt: c2wrbumxvj8gob34mxn46pxg29a6kxnwfhcaam3en-hr-2v pad: zifs6d9dgk36k94m9d5x77jhj277ip59gw9btmv4j7in-kc
Security Considerations & Precautions
Pads must be random, kept secret, only used once and destroyed immediately
after use. Should the same pad be used to encrypt more than one message, those
messages will be cracked. Should the pads become lost or stolen, then all the
messages should be suspect.
You must assume that the attacker intercepts and stores all of your ciphertext
messages indefinitely. He hopes to somehow obtain the pads so that he can
decrypt the messages someday.
When used with appropriate procedures and precautions, one-time pad encrypted
messages cannot be cracked. However, how the ciphertext message is sent and
received may identify the communicating parties. This may or may not be an
acceptable risk in your environment. For example, if a person posted a padder
encrypted message to a Twitter account, the IP address, user name and date/time
would be logged and stored. And, any IP address that read the message would be
logged and stored too. Basically, any transmission method that uses a network
(cellular, IP, etc.) may quickly reveal the location of the communicating
parties.
Radio signals are directional and can be tracked. However, radio signals don’t
rely on network infrastructure and require more expensive equipment and greater
technical knowledge to track. With radio you only know the general time and
direction from which the signal emanated. Also, it’s relatively easy to hide
the source of radio signals when the transmitter is moving around in densely
populated areas. The reception of radio signals cannot be tracked. Stations in
range of the signal may relay the messages to stations out of range.
One-time pad encrypted messages are not authenticated.
Plaintext messages, pads and ciphertext messages must only contain characters
from the Padder Character Set. Capitalization, punctuation and spaces are not
allowed. When creating plaintext messages, use the dash symbol ‘-‘ rather than
spaces to separate words. this-is-an-example-plaintext-message
The pad must be as long or longer than the message. The sender and receiver
should have the same numbered list of pads and know in which order to use them.
As a simplified example, there could be 31 pads for the month of January. The
January 1st message would use pad number 1 for that day’s message.
Padder is only intended for educational purposes and experimentation.
Padder: https://github.com/w8rbt/padder
Destructive Research Labs 