Decrypting content from an older version

Occasionally, new features or security fixes may be made to Data Padlock that requires a change to how data is encrypted or decrypted using the extension. This could involve a minor tweak to the add-on or a complete change to the encryption algorithm uses, as technology advances.

To reduce the size of Data Padlock, each version of Data Padlock only contains the most recent encryption and decryption code. Therefore, the Data Padlock versions are not compatible with each other, so you will not be able to decrypt data that was encrypted in an older version.

Data encrypted with Data Padlock contains information about what version was used to encrypt it. This helps the add-on to more accurately detect and handle data that was made in an old version.

Reading old messages

Simply changing the version number in the encrypted file will not make it possible to decrypt the data in a newer version of the add-on. This will likely produce an error or display random data.

Instead, you need to download an older version of the Data Padlock browser extension to read older data. You can download older versions directly from the Firefox add-ons website.

Which version do I use?

If you attempt to decrypt data that was encrypted by an old version of Data Padlock, the extension should display an error message stating which version you need to use. Otherwise, you can open the encrypted file with any text editor and the version information will be at the start of the file.

If you are trying to decrypt a message using a link that was created using the Secure Send add-on (an older version of Data Padlock), the version number is included at the end of the link. If there is no version number at the end of the link, the link was encrypted using version 1 of Secure Send.

The Firefox add-on website will list all versions of Data Padlock. You need to select the version that matches your encrypted data.

Versions of the Data Padlock add-on are released using Semantic Versioning. A version number will follow the format MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH. Not every version will have a patch number included. When a change is made to Data Padlock that means you will need to download an older version to decrypt data, the major version number will increase. Changes to the minor or patch numbers do not impact data decryption.

For example, version 2.2.1 can decrypt data that was encrypted in version 2.0.0, but not version 1.1.2.

For the best experience and security, it's recommended that you download the newest major version you require, since some minor fixes may be made to the add-on as they are discovered.

For example, it's recommended that you use version 2.2.1 instead of version 2.0.0.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You should only use older versions of Data Padlock to decrypt old data. Encrypting data with old versions of Data Padlock may leave your data open to unpatched security flaws.