GearStick

A desktop cryptography and password management toolkit built with JavaFX.

Features

GearStick provides four core security tools in a single desktop application:

1. Cryptography Module

• Text Encryption/Decryption: AES-256 encryption for text strings
• File Encryption/Decryption: Secure file encryption with AES-256
• Key Derivation: PBKDF2 with HMAC-SHA256 (65,536 iterations) for password-based key generation
• Secure IV Generation: Cryptographically secure initialization vectors using SecureRandom

2. Password Vault

• Secure Credential Storage: Encrypted password storage with master password protection
• Multi-Vault Support: Create and manage multiple vaults with independent master passwords
• Credential Management: Add, view, copy, and organize credentials
• Encryption: All credentials encrypted using vault-specific salt and IV

3. Password Generator

• Customizable Generation: Configure length and character sets (uppercase, lowercase, numbers, special characters)
• Cryptographically Secure: Uses SecureRandom for unpredictable password generation
• Vault Integration: Save generated passwords directly to your vault

4. Checksum Calculator

• File Integrity Verification: Calculate MD5 and SHA-256 checksums
• File Comparison: Verify file integrity and detect tampering

Prerequisites

• Java 17 or higher
• Maven 3.8+
• JavaFX 19 (included as dependency)

Quick Start

Clone and Build

# Build with Maven
mvn clean package

# Run the application
mvn javafx:run

Design Decisions

Why AES-256 with PBKDF2?

AES-256 provides strong encryption suitable for both text and file data, while PBKDF2 with 65,536 iterations makes password-based attacks computationally expensive. The combination balances security and performance for a desktop application.

Why Vault-Specific Salts and IVs?

Each vault generates its own salt and IV during creation, ensuring that identical passwords in different vaults produce different encrypted outputs. This prevents cross-vault attacks and adds an extra layer of security.