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Croc: Securely transfer files and folders between two computers

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21–29 of 29 posts

Re: Croc: Securely transfer files and folders between two computers

#21
post #4

one thing that gets me is this should be one of the most basic tasks between two machines and it has been increasingly, systematically abstracted from us, to control what channels it goes through, if it even goes through at all. so kudos to this app but this should be easy at an OS level and it isn't, by design. likely for the same reason airdrop is not a thing in china

It was easy, via Airdrop, but the CCP doesn’t like people being able to share files in a decentralized manner in groups, and Apple ceases to exist as we know it if they don’t do whatever the CCP wants, so it was nerfed.

CCP in the USA? What?

Re: Croc: Securely transfer files and folders between two computers

#22

How can one be sure that the relay does not record all the data flowing through it? There's not a second independent channel where the key is exchanged between sender and receiver.

The transfer is end2end encrypted using a PAKE key change which is aithenticated using the 3 words you enter in the reveiving end

Re: Croc: Securely transfer files and folders between two computers

#23
post #22

How can one be sure that the relay does not record all the data flowing through it? There's not a second independent channel where the key is exchanged between sender and receiver.

The transfer is end2end encrypted using a PAKE key change which is aithenticated using the 3 words you enter in the reveiving end

Thank you. I imagined that the 3 words were just a rendez-vous token that the receiving end must hand to the relay to retrieve the right data. I understand that it also includes a password to validate the key.

Are 32 bits enough to serve both functions?

Re: Croc: Securely transfer files and folders between two computers

#25
post #8

Hard-coded to use his relay server and then asking for donations for bandwidth? https://github.com/schollz/croc/issues/931

croc is great. been using it for unimportant transfers for years. If you want to donate money then start with syncthing which is decentralized and even more useful. could syncthing add croc-like command that was as simple and quick?

Re: Croc: Securely transfer files and folders between two computers

#26
post #10

one thing that gets me is this should be one of the most basic tasks between two machines and it has been increasingly, systematically abstracted from us, to control what channels it goes through, if it even goes through at all. so kudos to this app but this should be easy at an OS level and it isn't, by design. likely for the same reason airdrop is not a thing in china

File transfer isn't an OS level problem. There are already a million utilities that let you get a file from computer A to computer B if they are reachable over IP. Connecting the computers in a secure way is the hard part, hence the need for all the workarounds.

For most people, it is part of the OS though. Windows comes with Client and Server services activated by default even on the Home edition for some reason. The functionality is dumbed down and hidden though, while onedrive - which requires registering a windows account - is shoved in the user's face.

Re: Croc: Securely transfer files and folders between two computers

#27

What does this give me that unison doesn't?

Unison is dead, this project is alive.

there is absolutely nothing that indicates that it is. Have you considered that it might be complete? Software doesn't need to keep accumulating cruft for it to stay alive. Sometimes it just does the job and is finished

Re: Croc: Securely transfer files and folders between two computers

#28
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The transfer is end2end encrypted using a PAKE key change which is aithenticated using the 3 words you enter in the reveiving end

Thank you. I imagined that the 3 words were just a rendez-vous token that the receiving end must hand to the relay to retrieve the right data. I understand that it also includes a password to validate the key. Are 32 bits enough to serve both functions?

Yes 32 bit is enough because in PAKE its used for authenticstion not encryption. Which means you get exactly one attempt to brute force after which the procedere will fail
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