Any recomendations for software to password protect documents?

[mikkydoos]

Hi all,

 

Anyone using software to password protect documents?

 

Mainly for sending confidential data via email. We have mail encryption thanks to @bheadon 's superb post but would like password protection too on documents/files.

 

Office documents are fine, obviously you can password them from within e.g. Word.... I need these for PDF's, jpg's etc.

 

Usually I password a .rar or .zip - not infallible. Need something a bit more robust (did I mean easy to do?)

 

 

 

Free / Open Source is better

 

 

 

Cheers in advance

Edited March 15, 2016 by mikkydoos

[Steve21]

Any reason you don't just use 7zip as you mentioned? But with AES256 option etc, as long as it's not a silly password not gonna be any less robust than anything else.

 

Just noticed you said easy, if you use the right-click add to zip option it's only 1 tick box that way, rather than doing it through the 7zip GUI

 

Steve

Edited March 15, 2016 by Steve21

[mikkydoos]

Any reason you don't just use 7zip as you mentioned? But with AES256 option etc, as long as it's not a silly password not gonna be any less robust than anything else.

 

Steve

 

This person receives pdf's from an agency that (I presume) have been created with Acrobat and, like Office, has built in password protection.

They're looking to protect scanned pdf's and other image files. Not sure they can cope with more than three mouse clicks (sigh)... and the rest of the staff may have to do it.

[pete]

I'd lean towards teaching them to use 7-Zip properly because your OP implies this may spread to other file types.

 

I suspect there's a moderately expensive add-on (or maybe built-in) encryption option for your photocopiers so that a piece of paper is scanned and encrypted in one go, but you'd have to talk to your copier company.

[Steve21]

This person receives pdf's from an agency that (I presume) have been created with Acrobat and, like Office, has built in password protection.

They're looking to protect scanned pdf's and other image files. Not sure they can cope with more than three mouse clicks (sigh)... and the rest of the staff may have to do it.

 

The normal ones built into PDFs require the full Adobe package (not just Reader), and is more clicks to do than 7zip etc

 

Steve

[mikkydoos]

7Zip it is then.

 

apart from where they have to select a .zip instead of .7zip.

 

"The person at the other end says they can't open zap files"

 

*Sheesh*

[ijk]

We use pdf995 for general purpose PDF encryption. It is limited to 128‑bit RC4 encryption, the standard at PDF 1.4 (IIRC) and is a compromise. Stronger native PDF encryption is available but not necessarily to the recipient.

 

For anything else we use PowerArchiver with the Outlook Plug-in.

 

PA and the Outlook Plug-in are both configurable via the registry and thus by group policy. We have the plug-in configured to offer compression whenever a user attempts to send an email with one or more attachments. If they choose to compress they are prompted for a password (the strength of which is also configurable) and the plug-in compresses the file/s using 256-bit AES; if they choose not to, then the email is sent as normal. This type of Zip encryption requires the recipient to have appropriate software (such as 7Zip) available at their end.

[Cache]

If it's a scanned PDF, our photocopier has the option to apply a password as it's producing it.

 

Also, when you save as a PDF from Office, in Options there is an option to Encrypt Document with a Password.

 

Don't know if that helps?

[mikkydoos]

If it's a scanned PDF, our photocopier has the option to apply a password as it's producing it.

 

Also, when you save as a PDF from Office, in Options there is an option to Encrypt Document with a Password.

 

Don't know if that helps?

 

Cheers @Cache. Ours dont unfortunately.

 

I think 7 Zip is going to be fine for now.

 

Cheers for the comments all