While we were a little put off by this free text encryption program's registration process, we found its performance reliable and secure.

The makers of CryptoLab didn't put much effort in designing the interface, but it is easy to navigate. You can choose from a long list of encryption methods, including AES, DES, and Blowfish. The settings menu lets you create a master password for protecting the program. You can also set your key length. We simply selected an algorithm, typed our message into the text field, and chose the random option when creating a key. But before we could encrypt the first message, we had to enter our name and e-mail address to retrieve our key via e-mail. Messages are quickly encrypted once you get the registration key. You'll have to configure the program to send e-mail, but a guide walks you through the process.

Novices might be a little intimidated by the e-mail setup, but overall, the program is easy to use and makes for a worthy text encryption tool.