It uses a known insecure PKZIP algorithm and also requires you to add your passphrase on the command line. The zip command provides options to allow you to encrypt archives. To extract the zip archive use the following: 7za e myarchive.zip Use the zip command to create an encrypted archive P7zip Version 9.20 (locale=en_US.UTF-8,Utf16=on,HugeFiles=on,8 CPUs) 7za a -tzip -pPASSPHRASE -mem=AES256 secure.zip file1.txt file2.pdf file3.jpgĮxample output: $ 7za a -tzip -pPASSPHRASE -mem=AES256 myarchive.zip file1.txt file2.pdf file3.jpgħ-Zip (A) 9.20 Copyright (c) 1999-2010 Igor Pavlov To create the archive, use the command below, replace “PASSPHRASE” with your own secret passphrase. On Debian based systems such as Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install p7zip-full To install P7zip on Red Hat, or RH variants like CentOS or Fedora: sudo yum -y install p7zip It is also not as convenient because most systems do not come with the P7zip package installed. This is just as secure as the first option since it supports the same AES-256 encryption algorithm, although it does require you put the passphrase or “secret” on the command line, which I am not a fan of.

Use 7zip to create zip format archives with secure algorithms If you do, there is no way to recover the data. Also, it is important that you DO NOT forget the passphrase. For this example we used tar, gzip and gpg. tar.gz.gpg so I know how they were created. I like to always name these types of archives. You will be prompted for the passphrase before the archive is extracted. Then the archive will be created as an encrypted archive, using a secure algorithm and protected by your custom passphrase. tar czvpf - file1.txt file2.pdf file3.jpg | gpg -symmetric -cipher-algo aes256 -o .gpgĪfter entering the above command you will be prompted for a passphrase.Īfter entering the passphrase you will be asked to repeat it. This example specifies the AES-256 encryption algorithm.

We will use the tar command to create an archive and pipe it to the gpg command for encryption and password protection. This is the most secure way of creating an encrypted / password protected compressed archive, it is also one of the more complicated. Using tar and gpg to create a secured tar archive.

7zip add password