Password protect zip folders and files

[Kelly Barker]

How to use 7-Zip to password encrypt my folder and files in my windows to help prevent most people from viewing my private files like pictures, tax records, and more...


Thanks in advance...

[Richard McComas]

What are other people doing on your computer in the first place? You can easily password protect your whole compute. If you have multiply users they can have their own login.

[Chuck Wintle]

How to use 7-Zip to password encrypt my folder and files in my windows to help prevent most people from viewing my private files like pictures, tax records, and more...


Thanks in advance...
Or you can keep your records on removable storage such as a USB drive or something. Don't keeps your files on the computer.:D

[Tom Stenzel]

Hi Kelly,

To answer your question see the following link:

https://www.northeastern.edu/securenu/sensitive-information-2/how-to-use-7-zip-to-encrypt-files-and-folders/

The link also tells you what the different options are and has some recommendations. Even has pictures!

Depending on what you're hiding and who would be looking at it only you can decide what level of security you need.

-Tom

[Mike Henderson]

I have an encrypted thumb drive. When I plug it in, it looks like a CD and it opens a window that asks for the password. Once you provide the password, it opens the thumb drive. If you enter the password incorrectly five times, it wipes the thumb drive. The encryption is 256 bit. I have a word file on the thumb drive - the word file has my passwords in alphabetical order by the web site.

When you remove the thumb drive it is locked and you'd have to enter the password again to access it.

I also have an encryption app on my iPhone and I copy my file of passwords from my thumb drive to that app every now and then. Two reasons: (1.) So I have access to my passwords while traveling, and (2.) So I have a backup of the file. If the thumb drive died, I won't lose all my data.

Mike

[Curt Harms]

How to use 7-Zip to password encrypt my folder and files in my windows to help prevent most people from viewing my private files like pictures, tax records, and more...


Thanks in advance...

I don't use Windows so don't know how 7Zip works there. There should be an option when saving to set a password. Be sure to encrypt file name information as well as the file itself. There are stronger encryption standards than *zip but done properly I suspect it's strong enough, use a long password. Mike's suggestion about an encrypted flash drive is another interesting option.

[Kevin Beitz]

For some one that wants in pass word protection is not very safe today...

[Kelly Barker]

Thank you guys for your response but I need this 7zip for some reason but I appreciated you thanks...

[Curt Harms]

For some one that wants in pass word protection is not very safe today...

No cryptography pro here -nor IT pro but read a fair bit about it. Long random passwords are still pretty safe as far as I've seen. The problem with long random passwords is remembering them. The current recommendation seems to be a password manager so you only have to remember one password and that password won't be limited to 8 or 16 characters or some such inadequate number. 5 or more random unrelated dictionary words seems to be the recommendation today. Maybe add a few numbers and/or characters. Here's an online app to play with to get a feel for password strength, there are others.

http://password-checker.online-domain-tools.com/

[Myk Rian]

Password protect your desktop account, and let others use a guest account with no PW.

[Roger Feeley]

Remembering a long complicated password is difficult. The thinking today is to use a pass-phrase.

"Woodworking is my 2nd favorite thing to do!" Would be very difficult to crack.
or
"My bandsaw is a Rikon 10-325"

[Curt Harms]

Remembering a long complicated password is difficult. The thinking today is to use a pass-phrase.

"Woodworking is my 2nd favorite thing to do!" Would be very difficult to crack.
or
"My bandsaw is a Rikon 10-325"

Very true. Maybe add numbers and/or symbols to enlarge the search space. If I have it right, with a pass phrase you're guarding against a dictionary attack as compared to a brute force attack. Any encryption can eventually be broken. The trick is to make it difficult enough so that by the time it's broken the information contained is no longer of any consequence.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

What are other people doing on your computer in the first place? You can easily password protect your whole compute. If you have multiply users they can have their own login.

As computers are so cheaper now a days, why not to password protect your own personal computer!? That is the way I went many years ago...