Securing your personal files for either sending them via e-mail or simply against prying eyes can turn in a very time consuming activity. And yet there are a couple of softwares specially designed to fulfill these needs. Neobyte Solutions' Invisible Secrets is one of them. The application will both safe keep the files on your computer by encrypting them with one of almost a dozen algorithms provided, and perform a secure deletion of the files so that the data cannot be retrieved too easily.

Bildsoft Secure DNA strives to provide you as many useful features as possible. At a very decent price of $34.95, the application succeeds in providing solutions for encrypting files and folders, sending protected e-mails, securely deleting sensitive data, protecting a USB storage device or an entire CD. And this is not all as there are also some hidden options of the application that are not in plain view and at the beginning you will need some time to discover the gate to steganography options for images and audio files.

Despite the fact that the graphics in the interface are simple enough and nothing hinders the eye, it is pretty hard to work with and an average user may need a little time to get accustomed to it. First of all, the application window cannot be resized in any way and in spite of the fact that the first window is Home, you will not be able to lay your eyes on the steganography functions Bildsoft is equipped with.

All around the center shield there are the options of the software minus steganography and Roboform Password manager (which does not work properly). They are made visible, as well as all the above mentioned features, in an explorer like view with each option in its category by simply clicking on the blue shield in the center of Home screen.

Working with the software is not a snap as I first expected it to be (at least in Home window) as once you decide which section you want to use (Protect or Deprotect a File/Folder) a docking window suddenly opens from the left side. Immediately after making your choice, a new window with further options will open from the right. This is a reason for suggesting to work in All Functions window (the docking windows will open only on the right and a stronger sense of continuity is ensured).

If working with the application seems difficult for you then help is what you seek. Try no more, as such treatment is not yet implemented. However, Technical support is available, but only for registered users.

File Manager proves to be an important utility of Bildsoft as it allows the user to see the files or folders that are currently encrypted and their location. A very good option for the user is that the encrypted file/folder will be saved in a user defined location and the original will be applied with a native extension. The protection algorithm is AES-256 and while typing the password you can see how strong is your countersign. The bad part is that the strength potentiometer of the password is not calibrated very well. The password "softpedia" reached a 4 star rating and considering the characters involved (no numbers, no additional elements like "@" or "%") it is hard to believe that it is that strong.

Opening the windows in tabs is a very good solution as you can freely navigate from one to another without having to return to Home page. If you accidentally manage to close all the windows Bildsoft displays a message telling you that the top left hand icon will take you to the main window of the software. Clicking it when you already have a Home tab open will double it.

Steganography option works fine as long as you only have to hide text messages in images and sound files. The supported formats are limited to BMP and WAV file formats which restricts the flexibility of the application. A very interesting thing happened when I tried to open in IrfanView an image which contained a hidden message: the image viewer/editor informed me that the file I was trying to open is not a BMP image but a PNG and offered to change the extension automatically. It could not perform the operation, but opened the image anyway.

The Good

There are lots of useful applications included and almost all of them are working fine.

Encrypting USB storage devices and CDs immediately after burning or writing is definitely a big plus for the application.

The Bad

A little more flexibility would be a plus. Also, implementing the Help feature will definitely appeal to customers. Making Technical support available to trial users will also be a proof that the developer does not make any discrimination.

The Truth

Excellent options, but they are not emphasized the right way. Considering the list of features included the price is one of the best on the market among similar commercial softwares.

Try Invisible Secrets for a change, almost the same options are available.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action: