Analysis of the WinZip encryption method
WinZip is a popular compression utility for Microsoft Windows computers, the latest version of which is advertised as having \easy-to-use AES encryption to protect your sensitive data." We exhibit several attacks against WinZip’s new encryption method, dubbed \AE-2" or \Advanced Encryption, version two." We then discuss secure alternatives. Since at a high level the underlying WinZip encryption method appears secure (the core is exactly Encryptthen-Authenticate using AES-CTR and HMAC-SHA1), and since one of our attacks was made possible because of the way that WinZip Computing, Inc. decided to x a dieren t security problem with its previous encryption method AE-1, our attacks further underscore the subtlety of designing cryptographically secure software.