pyca-cryptography-explorer

pyca/cryptography Explorer

This project is an exploration of the pyca/cryptography library, specifically focusing on symmetric encryption using Fernet. It demonstrates how to securely generate, store, use, and manage encryption keys, as well as encrypt and decrypt messages.

Features

• Key Generation: Generate a key and save it to a file for later use.
• Message Encryption: Encrypt sensitive data using the saved key.
• Message Decryption: Decrypt encrypted data using the same key.

Requirements

To run this project, you’ll need:

• Python 3.6 or higher
• cryptography library

You can install the required library using the following command:

pip install cryptography

Project Structure

The project consists of three Python files:

1. generate_key.py:
   • Generates a Fernet key and saves it in a file (secret.key).
   • Run this script first to create the key for encryption and decryption.
2. encrypt_message.py:
   • Loads the key from the secret.key file and encrypts a message.
   • The encrypted message (token) is displayed.
3. decrypt_message.py:
   • Loads the key from the secret.key file and decrypts the encrypted message (token).
   • The original message is displayed.

How to Use

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone https://github.com/LahcenEzzara/pyca-cryptography-explorer.git
   cd pyca-cryptography-explorer
   

2. Generate a Key

   Run the generate_key.py script to generate a new encryption key and save it to secret.key:

   python generate_key.py
   

3. Encrypt a Message

   Use the encrypt_message.py script to encrypt a message:

   python encrypt_message.py
   

   The script will display the encrypted message (token).

4. Decrypt a Message

   To decrypt the encrypted message, run the decrypt_message.py script and replace YOUR_ENCRYPTED_TOKEN_HERE in the script with the encrypted token:

   python decrypt_message.py
   

   The original message will be displayed.

Security Considerations

• Always keep the encryption key (secret.key) secure. Anyone with access to this key can decrypt your encrypted data.
• Never share the key publicly or commit it to version control.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

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Happy exploring the pyca/cryptography library!

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