diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3314f2b..faa2bf6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -57,3 +57,5 @@ test_pEpLog_basic
 /test/pitytest11/test/pitytest_data/
 /test/test_pEpSQLite
 /test/test_swarm_tofu
+/test/test_file_rw_bin
+/test/test_rw.bin
diff --git a/src/std_utils.cc b/src/std_utils.cc
index 138fff8..d83da57 100644
--- a/src/std_utils.cc
+++ b/src/std_utils.cc
@@ -118,6 +118,32 @@ namespace pEp {
             return ss.str();
         }
 
+        std::vector<char> file_read_bin(const std::string &filename)
+        {
+            std::vector<char> ret{};
+            if (pEp::Utils::path_exists(filename)) {
+                std::ifstream ifs(filename, std::ios_base::binary);
+                ifs.unsetf(std::ios_base::skipws);
+
+                if (ifs.bad()) {
+                    throw std::runtime_error("failed to read file: '" + filename + "'");
+                }
+                ret = { std::istream_iterator<char>(ifs), std::istream_iterator<char>() };
+            } else {
+                throw std::runtime_error("File does not exist: '" + filename + "'");
+            }
+            return ret;
+        }
+
+        void file_write_bin(const std::string &filename, std::vector<char> &data)
+        {
+            std::fstream f(filename, std::ios_base::out | std::ios_base::binary | std::ios_base::trunc);
+            f.write(data.data(), static_cast<std::streamsize>(data.size()));
+            if (f.bad()) {
+                throw std::runtime_error("failed to write file: '" + filename + "'");
+            }
+        }
+
 #ifndef WIN32
         void path_ensure_not_existing(const string &path)
         {
diff --git a/src/std_utils.hh b/src/std_utils.hh
index 4c15ef4..8f54e45 100644
--- a/src/std_utils.hh
+++ b/src/std_utils.hh
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ namespace pEp {
         // file
         std::ofstream file_create(const std::string &filename);
         std::string file_read(const std::string &filename);
+        std::vector<char> file_read_bin(const std::string& filename);
+        void file_write_bin(const std::string& filename, std::vector<char>& data);
 
         // dir
 #ifndef WIN32