EncryptionAlgorithm Property

The algorithm used to encrypt a message when written to the archive.

Data Type

Possible Values

Default Value

Remarks

The algorithm used to encrypt each message written to the archive.

Note that the Password property must be set in order for the pipeline component to encrypt messages. By default the pipeline component will use standard zip encryption if Password is set, and will not encrypt data otherwise.

The pipeline component supports the use of AES, the Advanced Encryption Standard, as well as standard Zip encryption. The default encryption algorithm is the algorithm introduced in version 2.0 of the Zip specification, and is compatible with virtually all other zip utilities. However, this algorithm is considered weak and should not be used to protect sensitive data.

AES is a U.S. government standard cleared to protect even the most sensitive data. The file format used to create AES-encrypted files is designed to be compatible with WinZip 9.0. AES-encrypted files created by the pipeline component may or may not be compatible with other Zip utilities.

The pipeline component supports the use of AES with key lengths of 128, 192, or 256 bits. Note that even with the weakest (128-bit) keys, AES is much more secure than standard Zip encryption.

If you use strong or maximum AES encryption, the pipeline component will generate a unique salt value and cryptographic key for each message encrypted. If you use weak encryption the adapter will use the same salt for each message in the archive. If you are encrypting a large number of messages, this will have a substantial effect on performance.

If using AES encryption it is important to choose a good Password. For 128-bit keys it is recommended that your password be 32 characters long, and for 256-bit keys, 64 characters.

Important: Note that AES encryption only encrypts the contents of encrypted messages within the Zip archive; it does not prevent an attacker from reading the names of files in the archive, or from adding or deleting files to or from the archive. To prevent this consider first storing your messages in an unencrypted zip message, and then storing this zipped message in another, AES-encrypted zip message.

Property values:

This property is not available in the Disassembler/Decoder.