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Windows file encryption
Authored by: victory on Jun 24, '05 01:55:28AM

At one time the Windows version of PGP could create self-decrypting archives. (Likewise the Mac version of PGP created mac executables) Seemed like a good idea for sending sensitive content to recipient without the PGP package installed -- except that a lot of people (and corporate email servers) are now highly suspicious about .exe (executable) attachments. I haven't kept track of PGP so I don't know how current (or relevant) it is any more.

As to encrypted ZIP files, the problem is that there are several variants of this format and using the wrong options could create a false sense of security in a weakly protected file. In particular, the classic 'encryption' feature used in the original PKZip products isn't considered cryptographically secure in the least. (It's more akin to the casual password-protection of documents that word processors offer) There are at least two competing Windows products that offer AES encrypted zip files, but there is some question as to how standard the format is.

One final note: So far the only cross-platform, somewhat legacy-proof, albeit cumbersome method of encrypting flat files I've come across is the openssl cmd-line utility. (See http://www.openssl.org/docs/apps/enc.html )



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