The algorithm was invented by Joan Daemen and Vincent Rijmen. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (http://www.nist.gov) has recently selected the algorithm as an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
The cipher has a variable block length and key length. Authors of the algorithm currently specify how to use keys with a length of 128, 192, or 256 bits to encrypt blocks with a length of 128 bits.
The Camellia encryption algorithm was developed by Mitsubishi Electric and NTT of Japan. The cipher has been approved for use by the ISO/IEC, the European Union's NESSIE project and the Japanese CRYPTREC project.
As the RFC 3713 document states: "Camellia specifies the 128-bit block size and 128-, 192-, and 256-bit key sizes, the same interface as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). Camellia is characterized by its suitability for both software and hardware implementations as well as its high level of security. From a practical viewpoint, it is designed to enable flexibility in software and hardware implementations on 32-bit processors widely used over the Internet and many applications, 8-bit processors used in smart cards, cryptographic hardware, embedded systems, and so on. Moreover, its key setup time is excellent, and its key agility is superior to that of AES.".
BestCrypt Volume Encryption utilizes Camellia with a 256-bit key in XTS mode.
To get more information on the algorithm, read the RFC 3713 document.
The RC6 block cipher was designed by Ron Rivest in collaboration with Matt Robshaw, Ray Sidney, and Yiqun Lisa Yin from RSA Laboratories. RSA's RC6 encryption algorithm was selected among the other finalists to become the new federal Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). Visit Wikipedia (Rivest cipher 6) to get more information on the algorithm.
BestCrypt Volume Encryption uses the RC6 with 256-bit key and 128-bit blocks in XTS mode.
Serpent is a block cipher developed by Ross Anderson, Eli Biham and Lars Knudsen. Serpent can work with different combinations of key lengths. Serpent was also selected among other five finalists to become the new federal Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).
BestCrypt Volume Encryption uses Serpent in XTS mode with a 256-bit key, 128-bits blocks and 32 rounds.
Additional information about the Serpent algorithm is also available on World-Wide-Web from: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/serpent.html
The Twofish encryption algorithm was designed by Bruce Schneier, John Kelsey, Chris Hall, Niels Ferguson, David Wagner and Doug Whiting.
Twofish is a symmetric block cipher; a single key is used for encryption and decryption. Twofish has a block size of 128 bits and accepts keys of any length up to 256 bits.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) investigated Twofish as one of the candidates for the replacement of the DES encryption algorithm. As the authors of the algorithm state, "we have spent over one thousand hours cryptanalyzing Twofish, and have found no attacks that go anywhere near breaking the full 16-round version of the cipher".
BestCrypt uses a full 16-round version of Twofish and a maximum possible 256-bit encryption key length. To encrypt volumes, BestCrypt uses XTS Mode.
Additional information about the Twofish algorithm is available also on the World-Wide-Web from: http://www.counterpane.com/twofish.html