Today many computer users are interested in securing their files and privacy from prying eyes. Ever since the snowden revelations we have been aware of metadata that is being shared about all of our activities especially on the internet. For many, file encryption is more important now. However, only recently have file formats been able to support sufficient encryption. For example, the popular zip file format does not provide encryption for metadata within file archives such as the file names. Also, the encryption algorithm used by zip is considered weak and is easily crackable by adversaries.

This is why the b6z file archive format was created by open source advocates. Professional computer users know the importance of encrypting your compressed archive files. B6Z files use the state of the art AES encryption algorithm with 256 bits of key strength. This means that in order to crack it, if you theoretically were to convert every subatomic particle that exists in the universe into a supercomputer one million times more powerful than any supercomputer we have today, it would take approximately ninety billion years. This assumes that you have chosen a strong passphrase.

Security is not the only reason to switch to b6z format. Because of advancements in technology which doubles every six months, the old archive formats from the 80s and 90s are vastly outdated and have been far surpassed in compression ratio. The modern b6z file is able to compress at a ratio over fifty percent higher than the next best compression algorithm. This is because each separate data chunk can be compressed individually using the most efficient technique to combine into massive space savings.

Using the b6z archive format couldn’t be easier. Free software developers have developed an easy to use application called B6Zip which allows you to automatically extract b6z files with the click of the mouse. Automatic file extension associations means that you can also decompress other legacy archive formats as well such as 7z and rar. This means that you will not have to have any more than one archive decompressing suite on your computer in order to compress and decompress any file.

Because of these reasons, we believe more users should look into using the b6z compression format for their future file compression needs.