The Keys Database

The keys used by EAESCrypt are sequences of random numbers. By default, EAESCrypt uses 1792-bits key, but it can manages keys from 128 to 2048 bits.

These keys are stored in files, and each key file receives an identification number. The identifier of the key used to encrypt a file is saved into the resulting encrypted file. Thus, EAESCrypt can know by this identifier which key shall be used to decrypt the file.

Every key known by EAESCrypt is stored in a Keys Database. EAESCrypt manages this database by providing functions for storing new keys, fetch keys from their identifiers, return the key files and delete keys.

The Keys Database is stored within the folder of the system defined by the environment variable KEYPATH. To know what that folder is, follow these steps:

• Open a command console window:
  • From the Start menu, select "Run..."
  • Type cmd and click "OK"
• In the command window, type the command
  set
  and press ENTER
• Search, in the returned text, for the sequence KEYPATH=
  After this sequence, the full path of the Keys Database folder will be displayed.

Of the keys stored in the Keys Database, one of them is the default key. The default key is the one used to encrypt new files. EAESCrypt allways uses as the default key the last key stored or created in the Keys Database.

If there's no default key in the Keys Database, EAESCrypt automatically creates a new random key and uses it as the default.