Encryption and Decryption for Windows

While this program does indeed encrypt and decrypt very short e-mail messages, it's not a simple matter of giving the recipient a key. They also have to have this freeware program installed.

Encryption and Decryption has a sparse user interface, but it gets the job done. Five menu buttons are scattered at the top of the window, and a tree menu displays the options that come with each menu button. As far as settings go, you can run in invisible mode, and add a master password to access the program. To use the program, you simply type your message in the encryption field, but you can't exceed 255 characters, so messages will have to be brief. A text length counter at the top of the window is a nice touch, and it helps you keep track of your typing. It was awkward copying the encrypted message, as it didn't wrap in the window. A copy-to-clipboard feature would have been nice here. Using the decryption feature, we were able to paste the same message into the field, and successfully decrypt it.

Encryption and Decryption works fine, but its functionality is limited. We didn't like the idea of having to convince people to download the program to send them a few encrypted sentences, even when it's freeware. It cleanly uninstalled from our computer.