BBS MESSAGE ARCHIVER

Overview

Many BBS services don't support Archive Operations yet. When you have the need to Archive some messages you posted, but prefer not removing right away. This project provides a solution to Encrypt your message. You could update your post with Ciphered Message, and keep the Key somewhere for later Decryption. This project, for your convenience, takes a natual language text string as the Key instead of a HEX string.

Techinal Details

                                  (Original Message) --- [Compression] --- 
                                                                          |
(Natual Language Key String) --- [SHA256] --- [HEX Key] ---               |
                                                           | --- [AES-256-CTR Cipher] --- (Archived Cipher Message)
                                               (HEX IV) ---

Example

Original Message

What's the pursuit of every Clearing Houses?

Key Text

No Default !

Archived Cipher Message (Update This To Your BBS Post)

ARCHIVE TIME: 2025-11-06 15:52:48
DE-ARCHIVE INSTRUCTION: https://github.com/davychxn/BBS-MSG-ARCHIVER
ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM: AES-256-CTR
PADDING: NONE (stream mode)
NOTE: Compatible with CyberChef (full 16-byte counter, big-endian)

-- KEY --
KEY TEXT: <YOUR KEY TEXT HIDDEN>
KEY (hex): b2b9595e940627cf48ac78c28cf102b90a335b3a3dbd85f6ce17c848e890c8aa

-- IV / NONCE --
FULL IV (hex): 0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF

-- ARCHIVED TEXT --
ARCHIVED TEXT (base64):
o3WyjlGiYsfYl3d4b+20Cvkm0MoV6/oD3jZHUf0FABk2dTd2m2rmhFNNIl3BSlXZz9g4+w==

CyberChef Recipe

Definition of Decryption

Environment Preparation

1. Clone the Project to your local drive.
2. (Optional) Install Python dependent packages:

python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install cryptography

Archive Operations

1. Copy Original Message to ./encrypt_input.txt.
2. Write your Natual Language Key String to ./key.txt.
3. (Optional) Environment Preparation.
4. Run in System Cmd Console:

python bbs_msg_archiver.py

5. Update complete content of ./archive_output.txt to your BBS Post.

De-Archive Operations

1. Copy Archived Cipher Message only from Field ARCHIVED TEXT (base64) of ./archive_output.txt to ./encrypt_output.txt:

-- ARCHIVED TEXT --
ARCHIVED TEXT (base64):
[[[ARCHIVED CIPHER MESSAGE HERE]]]

2. Write your Natual Language Key String to ./key.txt.
3. (Optional) Environment Preparation.
4. Run in System Cmd Console:

python bbs_msg_dearchiver.py

5. Get Original Message from ./decrypt_output.txt.

De-Archive Operations With Online AES Decrypt Tools

CyberChef Example

1. Open CyberChef: https://gchq.github.io/CyberChef/

2. Load CyberChef Decrypt Recipe here:

3. Copy content of CyberChef Decryption Recipe to Recipe, and LOAD:

4. Do the following values copy:

---

COPY	FROM (FILE: archive_output.txt)	TO (CyberChef: AES Decrypt UI)
FIELDS	KEY (hex)	Key (HEX)
FIELDS	FULL IV (hex)	IV (HEX)
FIELDS	ARCHIVED TEXT (base64)	Input

5. BAKE to Output:

Show or Hide KEY TEXT In Archived Message

Change input Argument key_text_replacer of Class Archive's Constructor in ./bbs_msg_archiver.py

---

	key_text_replacer	Functionality	Seen In Archived Message
	None	Show Key Text	<KET TEXT> (content of ./key.txt)
	"" (Empty str)	Hide Key Text	<YOUR KEY TEXT HIDDEN>
	"<Customized Message>" (Non-Empty str)	Show Customized Message	<Customized Message>

Cleanup Operations

Cleanup Outputs

Run in System Cmd Console:

python cleanup_output_only.py

Cleanup Outputs + Truncate Input & Key To 0 Size

Run in System Cmd Console:

python cleanup_all.py

All Input & Output Files Reference

---

Input/Output	Filename	Usage
Input	./encrypt_input.txt	Original Message
Input	./key.txt	Key String (Natual Language)
Output/Input	./encrypt_output.txt	Archived Cipher Text + IV
Output	./encrypt_output_ciphertext_only.txt	Archived Cipher Text Only (Without IV)
Output	./archive_output.txt	Archived Cipher Text To Update To BBS (With Decrypt Information)
Output	./decrypt_output.txt	De-Archived Original Message

All Cmds Reference

Archive

python bbs_msg_archiver.py

De-Archive

python bbs_msg_dearchiver.py

Cleanup Outputs Only

python cleanup_output_only.py

Cleanup Both Inputs & Outputs

python cleanup_all.py

Install Python Package Dependents

python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install cryptography

Contribution

Contributions are welcome! Please submit a pull request for any enhancements or bug fixes.

Dual Licenses

This project is dual-licensed:

1. Open Source: Under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 (LGPL-3.0) — free for non-commercial and open-source use.
2. Commercial Use: A commercial license is available for closed-source projects, enterprise deployment, or relieve from compliance obligations.

View Commercial License Options

If you're using this library in a commercial product and want to:

• Keep your source code private
• Avoid LGPL distribution requirements
• Get professional support

Please contact us: