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Encoding with base64

Terminal - Encoding with base64
echo "Hello world" | base64
2009-04-27 15:00:08
User: P17
Functions: echo
-3
Up
Down
Encoding with base64

Also works with files:

cat file

Hello world

base64 file

SGVsbG8gd29ybGQK

To decrypt use the -d option:

echo SGVsbG8gd29ybGQK | base64 -d

Hello world

Show sample output | Add to favourites | Report as malicious

Alternatives

There are 4 alternatives - vote for the best!

Terminal - Alternatives

Know a better way?

If you can do better, submit your command here.

What others think

Encryption is not the word I would use. Because what you are doing is not by any means creating a difficult-to-read version, since anybody has the tool to "decrypt" it.

I would rather use the word "obfuscation", and I'm not even so sure of that.

Comment by pruneau 211 weeks and 6 days ago

It's not encryption. It's hashing. Use gpg for encryption, or some other tool like truecrypt. My fav algo is rijndael

Comment by linuxrawkstar 211 weeks and 6 days ago

Base64 is not hashing either. it is simply character translation, encoding 8 bit characters into 6 bits. Useful for stuff that cannot handle full ASCII such as email. Use something like md5 for a true hash.

Comment by nitehawk 211 weeks and 6 days ago

it's called coding. Not encryption

Comment by oernii 211 weeks and 5 days ago

Yes, this is encoding, not encryption. The benefit of base64 encoding, though, is that any arbitrary binary stream may be base64-encoded. (ASCII has nothing to do with it. In fact, to be precise, ASCII is a 7-bit encoding scheme. Anybody remember parity bits?)

Comment by bjimba 211 weeks and 2 days ago

Encryption method are not necessarily hard to break. base64 is an encryption method as it turns plaintext into something that you can only read if you have special knowledge. It is not the worst method either; a Cesar cipher like rot13 maps identical characters in the plaintext to identical characters in the ciphertext, base64 does not.

Comment by penpen 211 weeks ago

> Yes, this is encoding, not encryption.

Yes, you`re right.

I changed the title from "encryption" into "encoding".

Comment by P17 210 weeks and 4 days ago

Do not add a line break in your codded string. Use the -n echo's option:

echo -n "Hello world" | base64

Comment by aurium 207 weeks and 6 days ago

Your point of view

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