Encryption

Introduction to secure encryption in PowerArchiver
There are two ways of using secure encryption in PowerArchiver:

• PAE encryption - which is special encryption format and can be used for all different archives supported in PowerArchiver.

• ZIP AES encryption - new secure ZIP encryption, usable with newest versions of most popular zip utilities.

Introduction to PAE encryption

PowerArchiver features secure encryption in the form of .pae files. By using PowerArchiver's encryption tool, you can secure any data on your computer with the most powerful encryption formats currently in use. This becomes especially convenient when you need to send important data via e-mail or FTP. Additionally, PowerArchiver is able to intelligently handle PAE files, so if you encrypt an archive (such as a zip or cab file, or any other supported format), PowerArchiver will handle the archive transparently the next time you open the .pae file.

To start the tool, select "Encrypt File" from the "Tools" menu.

At the Encrypt dialog box, you will need to do several things:

• "Select Source File" - select the file that is going to be encrypted.
  you can select any file you wish, but we recommend using archives because PowerArchiver can then intelligently handle them

• "Select Destination File" - enter the name and location of your future encrypted file.
   

• "Encryption Method" - PowerArchiver has 5 different methods of encryption available with Rijndael - AES (default) being the most secure. We recommend using Rijndael for encryption since it has been elected as a new Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). Click here to find out more info on Rijndael from the AES website.
  
• "Delete original file after encryption" - when checked, file that was encrypted (source file) will be deleted after encryption.

After you have selected the options, click "Encrypt" to finish the process and encrypt the file. PowerArchiver will then ask you for a password and you will have to enter it two (2) times.
Please note that it is very IMPORTANT that you do not forget your password. You will NOT be able to use the file if you forget the password. There is no way you can recover a forgotten PAE password.

Because PowerArchiver does not compress data in PAE files, we recommend using PAE together with an archive format of your choice for best results.


PAE Encryption Tips and Tricks

• PowerArchiver is able to intelligently handle archives inside of PAE files. If you open a PAE file that contains an archive such as "example.zip", PowerArchiver will transparently open the archive and let you handle it as if it were a normal zip file. If you change or update an archive, PowerArchiver will ask you if you want to update the encrypted (.pae) file as well. Please remember that if you answer with "NO", your changes will not be saved. You can also turn off transparent encrypted archive handling in "Options> Configuration> Misc.".

• PowerArchiver's Password Manager is able to remember passwords of encrypted files. This option is turned off by default but if you are working in secure environment and use PAE only to send files via the Internet, then you can enable it so you do not have to enter a password each time you want to access your encrypted files. You can do so in "Options> Configuration> Password Manager". Your passwords are saved using 256 bit AES encryption.

• You can create PAE files at the same time you create an archive in every format. Simply check "Encrypt archive after compressing" in PowerArchiver's Add window, location under the Options tab. PowerArchiver will then load the encryption tool immediately after compression with predefined default options.

• You can use Explorer Shell Extensions to encrypt files with one click of the mouse. To do this, you can either enable "Encrypt" shell extensions under "Configuration> Shell Extensions" or simply use Compress + Options and check the "Encrypt Archive (.PAE)" box.

ZIP AES encryption

From version 9.0, PowerArchiver supports the new ZIP AES encryption method for secure encryption of ZIP files. You can extract and create ZIP AES encrypted archives that will be readable by new versions of popular ZIP utilities, thus enabling more secure data sharing even with users that do not have PowerArchiver.
 

ZIP AES methods supported:

• Decrypt (read) PkZip 5.1 and PKWare Secure Zip 8.0 Single Password Strong Encryption (AES) and WinZip 9.0 AES-1 and AES-2 formats for key lengths of 128, 192 and 256 bits.
• Encrypt (write) the PkZip 5.1 and PKWare Secure Zip 8.0 Single Password Strong Encryption (AES) formats for key lengths of 128, 192 and 256 bits.

Please Note:
PowerArchiver will be able to read and update files that were encrypted with any of these standards.

Copyrighted ⌐ 1998-2004 ConeXware, Inc All Rights Reserved. See Introduction page for more info.