Encrypted, password-protected file creation

Question

I'm writing a program that creates a Word document with sensitive information. I'd like to encrypt and password protect the document and distribute it in a self-extracting file so that the user can double-click, provide a password, and then receive the unencrypted file.

I'm okay creating the Word document, but I'd like a third-party program, scriptable or not (I can use the command-line), that can:

1. Encrypt the Word document,
2. Password-Protect the encryption, and
3. Create a self-extracting file.

Can anyone suggest software for this purpose? Anything of SSL security or higher is sufficient since the data was formerly hosted on an SSL-encrypted site.

Answer 1

WinRAR can create self-extracting archives with password protection. It uses 128-bit AES for encryption. Self-extractor's window is configurable. You get good compression as a bonus.

Answer 2

Perhaps what you want is simply a 7zip that has been encrypted and and setup for self extraction.

Answer 3

DotNetZip does this. You can script it or program it. There are command-line tools and a GUI tool to produce ZIPs or self-extracting archives that are AES-encrypted. free.