Password protection vs. encryption: what's the difference, and which is better?
Although many use password protection and encryption synonymously, they're two distinct concepts—the former merely prevents access to content, while the latter scrambles the content completely.
Password locking refers to the process of protecting data with a string of symbols.
By adding password protection, your files cannot be accessed without the corresponding code.
However, passwords alone cannot completely protect your data.
If a third party bypasses your password protection, they can still view the files and other information behind it.
Encryption goes beyond preventing unauthorized access to your files—instead, it makes them totally unreadable by using an encryption algorithm.
This means that even if someone bypasses the password of an encrypted file, they will only see a bunch of random digits, letters, and symbols.
To open an encrypted folder, you must have the decryption key to make sense of all the gibberish inside it.
And while it's theoretically possible to crack an encrypted file, it would take a supercomputer hundred, if not thousands, of years to brute force it.
Given that, it's always better to encrypt your files.
As long as someone trying to access your files does not have your key, they won't be able to see its content.
Nevertheless, whether you're using simple password protection or AES, you should always use a strong password.
After all, your data security is only as strong as its weakest link.
A weak password is prone to various attacks, including dictionary hacks, brute-force attacks, phishing, rainbow table attacks, and more.
Here’s a helpful WinZip resource for how to password protect a Zip file.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is FIPS 140-2?
FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) 140-2 confirms the effectiveness of hardware and software cryptography by ensuring they adhere to a standard set by the US federal government.
You should ensure your encryption algorithm is FIPS 140-2 compliant for maximum protection.
How to decrypt a file?
There are several ways to decrypt a file; typically, you'd need a password, but you also usually need a decrypting app specific to the algorithm used, too.
Thankfully, WinZip lets you decrypt the most common encrypted Zip and Zipx files.
Here's how to decrypt a file using WinZip. First, open the encrypted file with WinZip Pro.
Then, click and drag the documents to your destination folder.
Finally, type in the password and click OK.
How do I password-protect an Excel file?
You can password-protect an Excel file to secure its contents. Here's how to do it from inside the office application:
- Click on File > Info to see Workbook options.
- Select Protect Workbook > Encrypt with Password. This will open an Encrypt Document window.
- In the Encrypt Document window, type in the password you want to use to protect your Excel file. Once done, press OK.
- A Confirm Password window will appear, asking you to re-enter your password to ensure that it's recorded correctly. Click on OK after you've entered the correct password.
After following these steps, your Excel file is now password-protected. You should also see it in the Info window, where you should see Protect Workbook: A password is required to open this workbook.
These steps ensure that only authorized users can open your Excel file. However, you must remember your password or keep a copy safely hidden away. If you forget your password or lose your copy, recovering your Excel file is almost impossible.
How do I password-protect a Word file?
You cannot password-protect Word documents in older versions of Microsoft Word.
But with Microsoft 365 and Word for Mac 2011, you can encrypt your Word files on the app.
Here's how:
- Go to File > Info to see your document's information.
- Click Protect Document > Encrypt with Password to add a password to your Word file.
- In the Encrypt with Password window, enter the password you want to use to protect your Microsoft Word file. Press OK.
- Confirm the password you entered in the Confirm Password window. Click OK.
And with that, your Microsoft Word file is now password-protected. You should see Protect Document highlighted with yellow to confirm that your file requires a password to open.
Much like a password-protected Excel file, you should remember your password or keep a copy of it safely stored.
If you forget your password, you won't be able to recover your encrypted Word file.
