Security of a password protected / encrypted Zip-file?

Tech Support
1

Hi,

Although I’ve got my backups in order and secure and everything, this doesn’t really help if disaster striked completely and deprived me of all units where I can access the various crazy passwords and other information protecting my backups and core services.

(I have a backup access for this, but in some urgent scenarios it would not be ideal.)

So, my question is, if I use WinZip or Keka to create an encrypted/password protected zip-file with some core information. How secure is this from some data breach? Assume a 36+ Character password on it.

Would it be perfectly fine to leave a zip-file like that with some core backup codes etc live out in the wild?

2

The old WinZip encryption was bad/flawed. Current versions seem to be fine.

3

Why not create an encrypted container? (Dmg)
It is a standard macos feature.

2 Likes
4

Alright, thanks!

Yes, but this is for securely locking down some files/information and storing them “off-site” in a way that makes it safe from prying, but also easily available if disaster strikes - and without it being Mac-specific to get them “open”.

5

I think you should always use the right tool for the job, and if you want to be secure why risk the implementation of encryption in a tool for which encryption is its core job.

I would use something like GnuPG which is open source and has implementations on everything.

6

7zip should be able to read image files (.dmg at least) on all platforms.

8

All of the tools mentioned use symmetric encryption, with the exception of GPG. You should be fine with AES-256 and a strong password.

9

I think its that security will depend on the password that you give your folder. I convert my files into zip-archives just using my mac, you can read about it here https://osxtips.net/password-protect-zip-file-mac/

1 Like