Simple insecure two-way data “obfuscation”?

Question

I\'m looking for very simple obfuscation (like encrypt and decrypt but not necessarily secure) functionality for some data. It\'s not mission critical. I need something to k

Answer 1

If you just want simple encryption (i.e., possible for a determined cracker to break, but locking out most casual users), just pick two passphrases of equal length, say:

deoxyribonucleicacid
while (x>0) { x-- };

and xor your data with both of them (looping the passphrases if necessary)^(a). For example:

1111-2222-3333-4444-5555-6666-7777
deoxyribonucleicaciddeoxyribonucle
while (x>0) { x-- };while (x>0) { 

Someone searching your binary may well think the DNA string is a key, but they're unlikely to think the C code is anything other than uninitialized memory saved with your binary.

---

^(a) Keep in mind this is very simple encryption and, by some definitions, may not be considered encryption at all (since the intent of encryption is to prevent unauthorised access rather than just make it more difficult). Although, of course, even the strongest encryption is insecure when someone's standing over the key-holders with a steel pipe.

As stated in the first sentence, this is a means to make it difficult enough for the casual attacker that they'll move on. It's similar to preventing burglaries on your home - you don't need to make it impregnable, you just need to make it less pregnable than the house next door :-)