Answer Line: TrueCrypt vs. encrypted .zip files

December 13, 2012

Trinu, who keeps sensitive data inside AES-encrypted .zip archives, asked the Answer Line forum about the advantages and disadvantages of switching to TrueCrypt. [Email your tech questions to answer@pcworld.com or post them on the PCW Answer Line forum.] Regular readers know that I'm a big fan of the free, open-source encryption program, TrueCrypt. I've written about it numerous times, most recently in Can I recover some files and securely wipe others on a crashed hard drive? Keeping sensitive files in .zip archive file also works, provided you use AES encryption. Windows itself doesn't support AES-encrypted .zip files (it supports standard zip encryption, which is far too easy to hack), but many third-party compression programs support it. You can encrypt and decrypt AES with industry leader WinZip, the free 7-Zip, and others. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2016558/answer-line-truecrypt-vs-encrypted-zip-files.html