zipcloak

Zipcloak is a command line tool used for adding password-based encryption to existing zip archives. When a zip archive is encrypted using Zipcloak, it requires a password to decrypt and access its contents. This helps to protect sensitive or confidential data stored in zip files.

Using Zipcloak is fairly straightforward. After installing the tool, you simply need to run the command followed by the name of the zip file you want to encrypt. Zipcloak then prompts you to enter a password, which is used to encrypt the zip archive.

One important thing to note is that Zipcloak does not create a new encrypted zip file; instead, it modifies the existing zip file directly by encrypting its contents. This means that the original unencrypted version of the zip file is permanently replaced with the encrypted version.

The encryption algorithm used by Zipcloak is relatively strong, as it employs the 128-bit Zip 2.0 encryption specification. However, it is worth considering that certain high-level encryption techniques may render this encryption vulnerable. Therefore, it is recommended to use strong and unique passwords to maximize the security of the encrypted zip archive.

In case you need to remove the encryption from a zip file encrypted with Zipcloak, you can use the zipcloak -u command, which prompts you for the password and removes the encryption from the zip file.

Overall, Zipcloak is a convenient command line tool for adding password-based encryption to zip archives, offering a simple yet effective way to secure sensitive data.