deadbolt

deadbolt simplifies encrypting and decrypting files. All you need is a password.

Select a file to encrypt, enter a password, and … that’s it. Decryption is just as easy.

You can download deadbolt for Mac OS, Windows, or Linux. Any encrypted file can be shared across these platforms.

Note: deadbolt can not encrypt directories. To encrypt a directory, compress it into a .zip (or any archive format) file before using deadbolt.

Installation

If you're running Mac OS, install deadbolt with Homebrew:

$ brew install --cask deadbolt

If you're running Windows or Linux, download the latest release here.

Ubuntu / Debian

First try:

$ sudo apt install deadbolt_1.0.0_amd64.deb

but if apt suggests removing ubuntu-desktop, etc, use:

$ sudo apt install deadbolt_1.0.0_amd64.deb --no-install-recommends

Arch

deadbolt is packaged as deadbolt-bin on aur.

$ yay -S deadbolt-bin

How it Works

Non-Technical Version

deadbolt uses a proven, secure encryption algorithm to make sure your files stay safe.

Technical Version

deadbolt is built on Electron and uses crypto.js from the node.js standard library. The encryption protocol used is AES-256-GCM. This algorithm is part of the NSA's Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite and is approved to protect up to TOP SECRET documents. A 256-bit derived key for the cipher is created using 11,000 iterations of pbkdf2 with the SHA-512 HMAC digest algorithm, a 64-byte randomly generated salt, and a user generated password. The authenticity of the data is verified with the authentication tag provided by using GCM. These parameters were chosen by following the NIST Guidelines for pbkdf2.

FAQ

Showing Extensions on macOS

By default, macOS hides file extensions. To reduce confusion about what type each file is, I recommend configuring macOS to show file extensions. You can do that with the following command: $ defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true && killall Finder.

Setting deadbolt as Default App for .dbolt Files on macOS

You can set this app as the default app for .dbolt files, which means you'll be able to double-click on .dbolt files to open them with deadbolt for decryption.

You can set this up the first time you double-click on a .dbolt file, or by right-clicking on a .dbolt file, selecting Get Info and changing the default app in the Open With: section.

To do this programmatically, run the following snippet:

$ brew install duti
$ duti -s org.alichtman.deadbolt dyn.ah62d4rv4ge80k2xtrv4a all

The output of $ duti -x dbolt should then be:

$ duti -x dbolt
Deadbolt.app
/Applications/Deadbolt.app
org.alichtman.deadbolt