PyFileSec 0.1.2

File privacy & integrity tools, e.g., for human-subjects research.

PyFileSec provides robust yet easy-to-use tools for working with files that may contain sensitive information. The aim is to achieve a “industry standard” level of privacy, capable of protecting confidential information from casual inspection or accidental disclosure in a research setting. In addition, integrity assurance may be useful in archival and provenance applications. The main motivation for developing PyFileSec is research with human subjects (e.g., in combination with PsychoPy), but the hope is that it will be more widely useful.

Several excellent Python packages are available for encryption. However, file security requires far more than just encryption. The main and potentially unique contribution of PyFileSec is that it aspires to provide secure /file management/ tools having a /low barrier to entry/. These considerations motivate many of the design choices, e.g., using openssl (often already installed) rather than PyCrypto (requires compiling) or GPG (requires set-up).

The main functions provided include encryption: encrypt(), decrypt(), rotate(); and verification: sign(), verify(). It is also easy to obscure file length: pad(), securely remove files from disk: wipe(), combine a set of files into a single archive file prior to encryption: archive(), and display the meta-data associated with an encrypted file. Command-line / shell-script usage is also supported.

Public-key (asymmetric) encryption is used for security and flexibility, currently relying on calls to OpenSSL for all cryptography (RSA + AES256 – an approach that is well-known and widely regarded). The aim is to provide an easily extensible framework for adding other encryption backends (e.g., PyCrypto or GPG, should they be desired), without requiring changes to the API.

The integrated test-suite passes on Mac OS (10.8.3) and Linux (CentOS 6.4 and Ubuntu 12.04). Windows support will be added soon, and Python 3.x support looks easy.

Contributors

Jeremy R. Gray - package author

GPG public key: D934B0D7 Key fingerprint: 0D49 273C 2AA9 8514 3E31 5136 E96D 8449 D934 B0D7

Thanks to

Michael Stone - awesome code review