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The official website is: &nbsp;<a href="http://www.7-zip.org/" rel="ugc">http://www.7-zip.org/</a> &nbsp; Since it is free and open source there are many places to download it but I would use the official web site. &nbsp;Don't know but 'more vulnerable' has nothing to do with 'open source' or commercial but more to do with how well it is written.
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@btpringle: allow the correction: if that were a drawback, it would mean, the (presumed) attacker could already access your user profile - so you're lost anyway. Security aware people clear %temp% at logoff, scripted. Also, they don't make their profile accessible, not online, nor offline.
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@McKnife: &nbsp;The only problem is that many users don't realize this. &nbsp;They delete the original file thinking that they are safe and then do nothing further. &nbsp;I just wanted the user to be aware that the file is stored there, as well as the original location.<br />
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With that said, I personally use 7-Zip and have never had issues with the encryption function. &nbsp;I used to use WinZip, but the cost of it on each computer was getting prohibitive.
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Understood.<br />
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Since the code is available, how possible is it to reverse-engineer its process in order to identify how the 7-zip file was encrypted?
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rayluvs, you misunderstand. Knowing exactly how it is encrypted does not make it insecure, not the tiniest bit.
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We are not experts on the matter; the reason for the question.<br />
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So we take it by your comment that it is not possible for a programmer to reverse-engineer the process in order to identify how the 7-zip file was encrypted.
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We are reviewing our compression tools in order to finally replace it for a better one; our main concern is the encryption used. <br />
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We have been recommended in various occasion the open source product 7-zip over commercial products.<br />
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We use WinZip 9.0 and WinRar 4.20; we know they are old, so now we are considering 7-zip product. &nbsp;However, some question regarding this product in order to decide to make the change and wanted EE experience on the following:<br />
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<b>Is there more than one provider or developer of 7-Zip?</b>
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<b>Which is a reliable source for download 7-Zip?</b>
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<b>Being an open-source is it more vulnerable than commercial version?</b>
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We are reviewing our compression tools in order to finally replace it for a better one; our main concern is the encryption used. 

We have been recommended in various occasion the open source product 7-zip over commercial products.

We use WinZip 9.0 and WinRar 4.20; we know they are old, so now we are considering 7-zip product.  However, some question regarding this product in order to decide to make the change and wanted EE experience on the following:

Is there more than one provider or developer of 7-Zip?
Which is a reliable source for download 7-Zip?
Being an open-source is it more vulnerable than commercial version?

7-Zip question on developer, download and comparability-performance

Encryption is the process of encoding messages or information in such a way that only authorized parties can read it. In an encryption scheme, the intended communication information or message, referred to as plaintext, is encrypted using an encryption algorithm, generating ciphertext that can only be read if decrypted. For technical reasons, an encryption scheme usually uses a pseudo-random encryption key generated by an algorithm. An authorized recipient can easily decrypt the message with the key provided by the originator to recipients, but not to unauthorized interceptors.