Zip encryption has had often a bad reputation of being weak, but some would argue that a zip file encrypted using certain algorithms (such as by using AES), together with strong password, is really safe (see: https://superuser.com/questions/145167/is-zips-encryption-really-bad )My question is: how strong is the encryption of a zip file in Linux Mint 17.1, when one compress a file by right clicking on it in Nemo and then selecting the context Compress...? Does it use this same AES standard as recommended by the link above? Please assume a strong password using upper and lower case letters, numbers, symbols, 16+ digits and not a dictionary word.
How strong is the encryption of a zip file in Linux Mint
linux mint;password;encryption;zip;compression
File Roller (the GNOME application whose variant/fork/whatever-you-call-it you use) depends on zip.That should not be the case - according to the fileroller news page, p7zip is used to create zip archives since version 2.23.4 - see this somewhat outdated fileroller news page.It's also stated on 7-Zip's Wiki page:7-Zip supports:      The 256-bit AES cipher. Encryption can be enabled for both files and the 7z directory structure. When the directory structure is encrypted, users are required to supply a password to see the filenames contained within the archive. WinZip-developed zip file AES encryption standard is also available in 7-Zip to encrypt ZIP archives with AES 256-bit, but it does not offer filename encryption as in 7z archives.Checking a standard-encrypted zip file from fileroller on the terminal shows:7z l -slt [myStrongFile.zip]-> Method = AES-128 DeflateWhere 7-Zip's own deflate algorithm applies (which yields better compression, too), according to the Wiki.** If you want stronger encryption, you have two options: **use the terminal and use the higher zip encrypt security option:7z a -p -mem=AES256 -tzip [myStrongerFile.zip] [fileToEncrypt1] [fileToEncrypt2] ...Checking the encrypted 7z file on the terminal shows:7z l -slt [myStrongerFile.zip]-> Method = AES-256 Deflateuse the 7z format and encryption with fileroller, which also supports directory folder encryption, in contrary to zip files:Checking the encrypted 7z file on the terminal shows:7z l -slt [myStrongerFile.7z]-> Method = LZMA:3m 7zAES:19Which means AES-256