CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaimageencryptioncryptography
Sh4d0wsPlyr
Sh4d0wsPlyr

Reputation: 968

Java encryption files using AES - Best Methods

I have searched around for the best methods for encryption in terms of what ciphers to use, methods/etc. I'v decided on using 128Bit AES for the time being. My question lies more in what method is best for encrypting various types of data. In my example, this is for a small game I am making that has map data and associated image data.

I can save the data in any format, but would prefer something simple to read (when un-encrypted). Should I actually save this to the file itself, or should I change the file itself in some way?

Likewise in terms of the image files associated to the game that are saved as PNG or BMP files, any recommendations on how to encrypt those on top of the rest of the files?

My current method for the game data is to just encrypt it in singular lines - and have it load from a file line-by-line. Each line formatting to a different data value to be put into the system (e.g. load part of a map, maybe some item data, etc). Is there a better/faster method of accomplishing this that I may not have found yet?

I was also wondering about actually taking the entire class with the data saved and serializing it - then encrypting it. That way I could load the entire thing in one go straight into a class. Would this be a reasonable idea?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 401

Answers (1)

Maarten Bodewes
Maarten Bodewes

Reputation: 94018

For the images: you can read them using a CipherInputStream / CipherOuputStream. Note that at least older Java versions ignored padding errors for CipherInputStream.

You cannot directly encrypt to lines as the output of a cipher is binary. So you need to encode (using e.g. Base64) if you want to store the result as lines. You may ask yourself if you want things like game data to be in text. I would recommend CBC mode with random IV prefixed to the ciphertext.

If the data is serializable then serializing data could be an option. Personally I'm not a huge fan of serialization in Java due to the many pitfalls. But yes, you can certainly encrypt serialized data easily, it's binary after all.

Upvotes: 1

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