Tao Effect

Espionage 2.6 has arrived, and here’s the full list of changes:

• NEW: Redesigned and improved password prompts
• NEW: “Lock Folder” contextual item is back for 10.6 (*Only visible after restart!*)
• NEW: Daylite application template
• NEW: Added Rocketbox support to Mail application template
• IMPROVED: Behavior when registering with improperly named license
• IMPROVED: Relationship with the TEDiagnosticTool
• IMPROVED: Added informative dialog for Dropbox
• IMPROVED: Improved documentation on restoration from recovered disk images
• IMPROVED: Clarity in how to restore from backups
• IMPROVED: Reordered folder verification code to check for applications first
• IMPROVED: The informative alert upon first encryption
• IMPROVED: Added an additional check to prevent encryption of folders within folders
• CHANGED: Default Minimum Image Capacity (MIC) to 10GB
• FIXED: Incorrect backup interval for hourly backup times
• FIXED: Hang that could occur during uninstallation if folders or disk images were missing
• IMPROVED (2.6.1): Updated RBSplitView to 1.2
• IMPROVED (2.6.1): Updated BWToolkit to 1.2.5
• FIXED (2.6.1): Issue where LCC version could be incorrectly detected preventing Espionage from running

Overview of Significant Changes

Smarter Prompts

The new prompts are sleeker and have a timer on them to auto-deny the request after 60 seconds. Through the new action popup list it should now also be much clearer how an application can be added to the ignore list from the prompt itself.

Return of the Contextual Menu Item!

The “Lock” contextual menu is back in 10.6! It’s now called “Lock Folder” and rests directly in the root of the contextual menu:

After updating to Espionage 2.6, you must restart your computer before it appears on unlocked encrypted folders. Currently, this item will not appear on unlocked non-encrypted folders, though this may change in the future.

TrialPay – Get Espionage Free!

We’ve added TrialPay as a payment option to our new order page, which means you can get Espionage free by completing an affiliate offer.

New Screencast!

There’s a brand new awesome screencast on the homepage… check it out!

We received an excellent tip from Ira Rainey of side lane digital development on a simple method of using Espionage with Dropbox.

The method does not involve storing Espionage’d folders inside of Dropbox (which can lead to issues), but rather using Espionage to easily and conveniently encrypt all of the files from your Dropbox on your Mac.

Step 1 – Create a folder called ‘Vault’ in your Home folder

Step 2 – Adjust Dropbox’s Preferences

1. Move the Dropbox into the Vault folder
2. Uncheck the “Start Dropbox on System Startup” checkbox

Step 3 – Quit Dropbox

Step 4 – Add ‘Vault’ to Espionage & Associate with Dropbox

1. Add the ‘Vault’ folder to Espionage
2. Drag the Dropbox application onto the Application Associations list

Step 5 – Set Dropbox to ‘Launch At Login’ in Espionage

1. Select ‘Vault’ in Espionage
2. Click the ‘Edit Application Associations’ button
3. Check the box to ‘Launch at Login’
4. If prompted to enable ‘Autounlock at login’, click ‘Yes’
5. Click ‘Done’, then click ‘Save Changes’

That’s it!

Your Dropbox is now encrypted locally, you can now launch Dropbox (you’ll be prompted for the folder’s password). Dropbox will upload any changes to it securely over the internet, and the files are stored encrypted on their servers.

It’s important to note that if you sync your Dropbox with another Mac the files on that machine won’t be encrypted unless you repeat these steps there as well. We are still investigating whether it’s possible to get Dropbox to play nicely with a live Espionage’d folder that’s inside of it.

Many thanks to Ira Rainey for pointing this out! You can read more information about this tip on his blog.

We’re always interested in hearing about how our users use Espionage, so if you have any interesting tips you’d like to share with us don’t hesitate to let us know!

Espionage 2.5.4 contains minor bug fixes, user interface improvements, and a compatibility fix when using Little Snitch’s Configuration utility:

• IMPROVED: When adding a folder to Espionage, “passwords do not match” is not displayed until second password is entered.
• IMPROVED: Wording of documentation on how to re-import (aka restore) backed up or lost encrypted folders.
• IMPROVED: Switched default keychain choice during install to separate keychain as it has some advantages.
• FIXED: Issue where Little Snitch Configuration could cause app password prompt to appear repeatedly.
• FIXED: Removed unnecessary error message to the log related to reodering of folders.
• FIXED: Rare issue where “Edit Application Associations” button could be disabled when it shouldn’t be.

We decided to change the default keychain to the separate Espionage keychain for several reasons: 1) It can be slightly more secure because it encourages the use of a different password, unique to Espionage. 2) Unlike the the login keychain it will lock itself after 15 minutes of inactivity, or if your machine is put to sleep. This will cause Espionage’s main window to lock as well if Espionage is running. 3) Espionage will keep backups of the separate keychain in its application support folder.

For some, the only disadvantage will be an extra prompt upon login for your master password if you’ve set any folders to autounlock at login. If this is too much of an issue you can always choose the login keychain!

Enjoy!

Thanks go out to Dirk for emailing us today and letting us know of a security issue whereby a folder’s password could be logged to the system log in a certain error scenario (not cool!). The issue itself is due to a typo in the code that was introduced in 2.5, versions prior to that are not affected.

• SECURITY: [Important!] Issue introduced in 2.5 where folder password could be logged to system log on an error. (Thanks to Dirk for catching this!)
• IMPROVED: Background UI when no folders in Espionage.
• IMPROVED: Better minimum window size.

On the aesthetic side of things we’ve improved Espionage’s background UI for when no folders are protected:

If you already have Espionage installed, the easiest and fastest way to update is to choose “Check for Updates” from the Espionage menu.

Otherwise you can download it here:

Espionage 2.5.2 is primarily a bugfix release, but continues to add some polishing touches:

• NEW: Added an intelligent fail-safe into Espionage to help users whose Finder settings cause the password prompt to appear frequently.
• NEW: Documentation in troubleshooting section on what to check if the Finder causes the password prompt to appear too frequently.
• IMPROVED: iSpy installer now places a Readme file alongside ispyd for those who don’t read the installer’s Readme.
• IMPROVED: Updated Growl to 1.2.
• IMPROVED: EspionageHelper is now completely 64-bit ready!
• FIXED: Issue that prevented iSpy installer from running on some rare systems.
• FIXED: Issue where previous keychain entry wasn’t deleted after moving a folder.
• FIXED: Issue where moving a folder (as opposed to renaming) could cause erroneous errors.
• FIXED: Minor issue where application associations could have their names edited.
• FIXED: Two broken links in the help documentation to the ignore list page.

Enjoy!

Today we’re finally releasing a brand new Espionage, and we’re marking the occasion by skipping a few version numbers.

We’ve spent the past month and a half working long hours to bring this update to you, and we hope you like it:

• NEW: Brand new helper! The heart of Espionage – greatly improved.
• NEW: Fully featured global status menu! Enable it in the General preferences if it’s disabled.
• NEW: Stay-Up-To-Date! If update checking is enabled, helper lets you know if you’re out-of-date!
• NEW: Won’t lock app’s folders if the app quickly relaunches (makes app autoupdate smooth).
• NEW: Espionage notices if you’ve changed a folder’s settings and prompts you to save them if necessary.
• NEW: MacJournal application template.
• NEW: Path Finder compatibility mode for Path Finder users! Enable in Espionage’s preferences.
• FIXED: Minor issue w/iSpy kext (installer will re-install the updated version)
• FIXED: Issue where a folder could fail to unlock on Snow Leopard
• FIXED: Issue that would cause erroneous errors to appear upon renaming of a folder
• FIXED: Issue that could prevent a folder from being renamed with “Locate Missing Folder…”
• FIXED: Issue that could cause helper to hang on Snow Leopard.
• FIXED: Issue that could cause helper to prevent proper shutdown of computer.
• FIXED: Issue where built-in notifications wouldn’t post if Espionage is moved after running it
• FIXED: Minor issue with autounlocking non-encrypted folders.
• FIXED: Rare issue where installer could hang and cause high CPU usage.
• FIXED: Rare issue where an app might not be watched for quit.
• FIXED (2.5.1): Issue where application password prompt could appear upon login in 10.6.
• FIXED (2.5.1): Crash in rare scenario involving quitting Espionage UI during an operation.
• FIXED (2.5.1): A broken link in the help documentation.
• FIXED (2.5.1): Bug in the iSpy installer related to version checking.
• IMPROVED: Folder positions now stick when they’re rearranged in the list.
• IMPROVED: Behavior if a folder fails to lock.
• IMPROVED: Behavior if a folder fials to restore.
• IMPROVED: Finder will now immediately reveal contents of a folder when it’s disabled.
• IMPROVED: Updated iSpy framework for 64-bit support.
• IMPROVED: Updating of helper is smoother.
• IMPROVED: Better handling of applications with disabled associated folders.
• IMPROVED: Script running architecture.
• IMPROVED: Built-in notifications now use Core Animation.
• IMPROVED: Visual feedback in uninstaller during restoration of folders.
• IMPROVED: Many other improvements and bugfixes too detailed to list.

Overview of Significant Changes

New Helper

If iSpy is Espionage’s nervous system, then Espionage’s helper is surely its brains.

As we slowly make our way towards Espionage’s first birthday, its helper has been relatively unknown for the major role that it plays. Normally the only hint of its existence would be the occasional notification or password prompt, and sometimes, less fortunately, an indirect hint of its presence when Espionage suddenly “stops responding”.

Today this is all changing, as for this release we’ve focused almost exclusively on it. We’ve completely rewritten and redesigned Espionage’s helper. It is much more responsive, more stable, and far more powerful in its capabilities.

You can now do things like encrypt a new folder while interacting with your other locked folders. And the new architecture has finally allowed us to complete a much needed feature…

Global Menu Item

What used to be a sad little menubar item:

Is now a powerful and convenient way of managing your Espionage’d folders:

Path Finder Support!

Path Finder users rejoice! Espionage now has a checkbox for you in its general preferences. Just enable the Path Finder compatibility mode, and Espionage will work seamlessly with your favorite file manager.

Stay-Up-To-Date!

If you’ve enabled update checking (and we hope you have) Espionage’s helper will now quietly check to make sure you’re running the latest version. If it sees that you’re out of date it will post a single notification letting you know.

Support for Application Auto-Updates

In 2.5, you’ll notice a slight delay from the time an application quits to the time Espionage locks its data. This allows applications like Adium to auto-update without skipping a beat. If the application relaunches within 3 seconds, Espionage will not locks its data.

You’ll notice many other tweaks and improvements in this update.

We hope you enjoy it!

Update: Our host has fixed the problem, the support form is back online.

We just noticed that the php installation on our host appears to be a little bit broken in the ‘mail’ department, and because of this we may not have received some support emails.

If you have not received a response from us after waiting 24 hours, please resend your support question directly to our support email address: .

We’ve contacted our hosting provider and are currently waiting for a response from them. Until we’ve fixed this problem our support form will be down. We’ll update this post once it’s fixed, and please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.

After over a month in development, Espionage 2.1 is ready.

Espionage 2.1 is a significant update, and one of the major changes is full support for Snow Leopard. Espionage 2.1 itself can be thought of as a “Snow Leopard” kind-of update in that on the surface it may appear to be very similar to 2.0.8, but beneath its familiar exterior is a fully revamped interior.

This is a significant update that everyone using Espionage is strongly encouraged to update to, as it contains many significant bug fixes, including a fix for a rare kernel panic that could occur in previous versions of iSpy. Also, because 2.1 updates iSpy the iSpy installer will run again. You will not need to restart or logout though, unless after performing the update Espionage cannot establish communication with its helper.

One other note is that we’ve had the chance to finally investigate the Logitech Control Center issue, and it turns out that Espionage is compatible with it, but only with the latest version of LCC (as of this writing, 2.7). Espionage 2.1 will detect if you have an older version installed and will refuse to run until you update to the latest version. Click here for more information.

Here is the full list of significant changes:

• NEW: Snow Leopard Support
• NEW: Autodetection of encryption settings upon adding an already encrypted folder
• NEW: Xcode template to protect Xcode snapshots
• FIXED: Panic in iSpy that could happen in certain situations.
• FIXED: Crash that could happen after 1.x -> 2.x upgrade
• FIXED: Fixed a bug resulting in 1.x -> 2.x upgraded folders being listed as not encrypted
• FIXED: Issue where folder could get stuck with bad ACLs
• FIXED: Irrelevant error messages to console in relation to ACLs
• FIXED: Corrected iChat template
• FIXED: Minor bug associated with ExpanDrive integration while restoring a folder while it’s unlocked
• FIXED: Minor bug where dependencies for one association could be used for another in app templates
• FIXED: Minor UI glitch when updating Espionage’s helper
• CHANGED: Updated code signing certificate, you will be prompted to re-authorize Espionage to access keychain
• IMPROVED: Modified warning for detection of Logitech Control Center to suggest update to latest version if necessary
• IMPROVED: Updated all components of iSpy, now Snow Leopard compatible, fixed several memory leaks
• IMPROVED: Significantly improved documentation on backing up folders (including documentation on Time Machine and other tools)
• IMPROVED: When searching for a process, match only processes with same exact name, as opposed to names that contain it
• IMPROVED: Espionage now detects upon launch folders that weren’t properly locked and syncs up to the situation
• IMPROVED: Behavior on waiting for associations to quit when helper is stopped
• IMPROVED: Changed default backup interval to 1 hour
• IMPROVED: Protective ACLs are removed from folder while it’s disabled to allow folder sync with apps like ChronoSync
• IMPROVED: Improved wording of password cover
• IMPROVED: Improved a notification associated with disabling a folder
• IMPROVED: Added check to detect when multiple, conflicting disk images could already exist for a folder being added
• IMPROVED: Added check to detect when an already encrypted folder being added to Espionage was renamed
• IMPROVED: Updated BWToolkit to 1.2.2

Overview of Significant Changes

Auto-detection of encryption settings

In previous versions of Espionage, adding an already encrypted folder to Espionage (for example, a folder you retrieved from backups), you needed to know two pieces of information: how the folder was encrypted originally, and what password was used to encrypt it.

Now you only need to know only one piece of information, and that’s the password that was used to encrypt the folder. Espionage will automatically detect the folder’s encryption for you:

Snow Leopard support and updated iSpy

Espionage 2.1 is now ready to be used on Snow Leopard, so those of you who have pre-release versions of it installed can now use your favorite encryption tool on it!

iSpy has also been updated, it is now much more robust, and a few small memory leaks have been plugged. A small number of users experienced kernel panics with the previous version, this is now fixed in 2.1.

Improved backup documentation!

We received some emails saying that our backup documentation could use some work, and hopefully with 2.1 we’ve addressed your concerns. It now includes documentation on how to restore or backup using Espionage’s backups, Time Machine, or using a third-party software/service. Check it out!

Espionage 2.1.1 Release Notes

2.1.1 fixes a couple of rare and minor issues with 2.1:

• FIXED: Rare issue with trial error dialogue
• FIXED: Rare issue that could lead to a failure to encrypt a folder
• FIXED: Spelling of “Unlocking” (thanks Andreas)

Thank you to everyone who submitted icons for the Cloak icon contest!

The contest is over, and my apologies for being two days late to the announcement.

The bad news is that we weren’t able to pick a winner, meaning Cloak will continue to use the same icon for the time being. The good news though is that I’m throwing the entire concept of having a contest out the window. If you think you can improve upon Cloak’s icon, by all means go for it and post your creation in the comments below. You may want to read some of the comments posted to the contest before doing so though.

The chance to win a license to Espionage (or equivalent value) is fast approaching, and thanks to the obscurity of the contest your chances of winning are great! If you have the skills to improve upon Cloak’s icon, go for it!

Contest ends next Tuesday, June 30th.