Originally Posted by koala

From the WinRar Help file:


Sorry, I didn't realise you were already using encryption. Unencrypted passwords are easy to crack, given the right software.

Also, WinRar and other similar programs use temp files when encrypting, so you usually need to securely wipe the free hard drive space after creating the archive for total security, as the 'deleted' temp files are still recoverable using data recovery software.

The features list for 3.8 says "New 'Wipe Temporary Files' option in 'Settings/Security' dialog provides more secure, though slower, way to delete temporary WinRAR files." So as long as you enable this setting, you don't need to worry about wiping the free hard drive space. I'm using WinRar 3.6 which doesn't have this feature.