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Solid, command-line file encryption tool?

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tranglos:
Tangentially related to mouser's ongoing search for an online backup solution. I'm trying the plain old ftp way, and for that I need an encryption utility with these features:


* Command-line operation (GUI is ok but optional; this will run from a batch file)
* Has to work with individual files; bonus points for storing multiple files in a single archive, but this is optional
* No asymmetric (public key) cryptography, so no gnupg. I want to decrypt with just the passphrase and not worry about losing the private key or having it with me at all times.
* Must use a known-good cipher with a reasonable key size. I don't care if three-letter agencies can crack it, but it has to be reasonably secure and use a well-known, solid encryption algorithm. No trade-secret, teenage wonder or homebrew solutions.
* Preferably a mature project, not something that just appeared last week.
* Must either be open source or come from a vendor I can trust. A small, independent vendor is preferable to a big corp, which will sacrifice security for profit and politics every time. (PGP is now owned by Symantec, yech!) Think TrueCrypt quality.
* Commercial apps OK, as long as they satisfy all of the above.

I think that's it. Haven't looked at crypto apps in a long time, so I've no idea what's out there now.

Eóin:
Perhaps 7zip? It has a command line interface and meets your other requirements too I believe

tranglos:
Perhaps 7zip? It has a command line interface and meets your other requirements too I believe
-Eóin (February 25, 2012, 12:14 PM)
--- End quote ---

Not only that, but it can encrypt headers in the compressed file, so unlike in zip files, you can't see the filenames inside the archive without decrypting. I like it, so thanks for confirming my so-far favorable impression.

What it does not have is a switch to compress each file into a separate archive. I need that to minimize the amount of data to upload, since my outgoing bandwidth sucks. Still, the best candidate I've seen so far. I wonder if the authors are susceptible to bugging for new features :-)

Innuendo:
My Google Fu turned up this thread dealing with using WinRAR from the command line to create a separate archive for each file:

http://forums.techguy.org/all-other-software/697666-winrar-command-line-separate-archives.html

All you would need to do is edit the provided batch file provided to tailor it to your desired encryption requirements. I don't think you can anything more mature & proven than WinRAR. The world's largest file transfer network (Usenet) depends on RAR files.

Ath:
What it does not have is a switch to compress each file into a separate archive.
-tranglos (February 25, 2012, 12:23 PM)
--- End quote ---
You could do some smart batch scripting for that if needed? ;)

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