AES-192 file encryption — 2023

A desktop app that takes any file, runs it through AES-192, and leaves you with something no file explorer can identify.

0% decrypted
See how it works ↓
Built withC#.NETWindows GUI

Anatomy of an encrypted file

Two plaintext fields up front, then your file — unrecognizable.

IV
Extension
AES-192 ciphertext

Initialization Vector

16 bytes · plaintext

Generated fresh for every file and written to the header as-is. An IV isn't secret — it only has to be unique per encryption.

Original extension

Variable length · plaintext

The real file type is recorded here, then removed from the filename itself, so the file on disk gives nothing away.

AES-192 payload

Up to 2GB · encrypted

Everything after the header is the file's original bytes, encrypted with a key generated from your passphrase.

What's included

5 core systems

AES-192 encryption

Every byte, replaced

Files are read as raw bytes and run through AES with a 192-bit key — the same cipher, applied uniformly regardless of what the file actually is.

File extension hiding

Nothing given away on disk

The original extension is stripped from the filename and written into the header instead — an encrypted file just looks like a generic blob until it's decrypted back.

Plaintext IV header

Unique per file, not secret

A fresh initialization vector is generated for every file and stored in the header as plaintext — an IV doesn't need to be hidden, only unique, so it isn't encrypted.

Files up to 2GB

Streamed, not loaded whole

Encryption runs on files as large as 2GB, processed in a way that doesn't require holding the entire file in memory at once.

Passphrase-seeded key generation

One key, no key file

Whatever you type becomes the seed for the AES-192 key generator — there's no separate key file to store, back up, or lose.

No key file. No metadata. No clues.

Just a passphrase, an AES-192 key generator, and a file that no longer looks like anything.

Header format verified above