Best way to share files with someone securely?

[kat.hayes]

I need to upload and share a bunch of financial files with someone else that might be on a Windows computer. I can upload the files to iCloud, Google Drive, whatever, but I want to make sure that it will be secure if someone else were to somehow access them. My thought is to .zip up all of the files and password protect them and just send a link to the other person.

1. Can a Windows user easily open a password protected .zip file on their computer?
2. Is this a good way of doing this? Any issues?
3. Other ideas?

Thanks

 

[Nugget]

Password-protected zip files are cross-platform and can be shared between macOS and Windows with no problems.
With zip files, the quality of the security is a function of password length, so just make sure to choose a non-dictionary password and nothing too short.

I think that's a great approach for what you're describing if you're protecting against normal people and not governments.

 

[chown33]

What tool or app were you planning to use for zipping and encrypting? Different ones use different encryption algorithms.

 

[kat.hayes]

What tool or app were you planning to use for zipping and encrypting? Different ones use different encryption algorithms.

I was planning to use what is built directly into Mac OS. I have not done this for many years so I am assuming it is still built in? Is there a better option to look into?

Thanks

 

[chown33]

I suggest asking the intended recipient of the file what they can accept. If it's anything like my accountant, they may have a secure website where they can accept uploaded files.


The encryption algorithm built into the 'zip' command may vary depending on the macOS version. You might find it using man zip in a Terminal window, or zip --version might give details.

When I search for zip encryption algorithm, some results say that 7-zip uses AES-256, which is good.

There are probably Mac App Store apps that can make encrypted zip files with good encryption. I don't have a specific recommendation. If you want us to look at something specific, please post it.

Anything that only uses "classic" zip encryption (ZipCrypto) will be weak. Other crypto algorithms may be weak now, but were originally considered good, such as RC4. Here's some history:

ZIP (file format) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

ZIP (file format) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org