How do I password protect a CD for both mac and pc?

October 23, 2007 7:58 PM

I want to encrypt a CD with a very simple password.

Brief explanation: I'm handing in a project in a few days, one component of which is a technologically based riddle. I want my professor to read what I hand in, then run the CD I provide, and find that it is password protected. If he is able to guess the password (which will be the greek word "Aletheia") based on the project - great, there will be a few extra things on the CD. If not, all the better.

The thing is... I run Mac OSX, but toast titanium will only let me encrypt a CD that runs exclusively on Mac OSX. I don't know what kind of computer my professor uses, and I don't have time to ask. So what program will allow me to encrypt a CD so that it will prompt for a password whether it is run on a windows OS or a Mac (assuming, of course, he is running one of the two)?

posted by ndicecco to technology (11 comments total)

Your best bet is to create an encrypted ZIP file and put it on the disc.
posted by b1tr0t at 8:01 PM on October 23, 2007

Yep. There's no other platform-independent method that will allow him to access the files without installing software.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:09 PM on October 23, 2007

What about setting up the CD to automatically "run" an executable, password-protected ZIP file? Is such a thing doable?
posted by amtho at 8:20 PM on October 23, 2007

What about setting up the CD to automatically "run" an executable, password-protected ZIP file? Is such a thing doable?

Not if you want it to be platform-independent, no.

I guess a big question is how tech-savvy the professor is; I could imagine using an entirely different strategy for something I was giving to a CompSci person than to an English professor. (For the CompSci I might just put a text file on the disc that had been trivially enciphered -- say using a Caesar shift or some other alphabetic substitution -- and a little script that would undo it when fed the right password. But that's not going to fly with someone who needs a "24"-style blinking text box.)
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:52 PM on October 23, 2007

Does the extra content have to be on a CD? Why not put the super secret content onto a web site?
posted by nathan_teske at 9:02 PM on October 23, 2007

PDF files have this functionality on both platforms.
posted by crustix at 9:17 PM on October 23, 2007

This sounds like a superb way to get the professor annoyed at you. Are you really sure this is a good idea?

Grading projects is drudge work. Why would any professor think kindly of a student who goes out of his way to make that drudge work slower and more difficult?
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 9:19 PM on October 23, 2007

The prof could always google your name and find the password in your AskMeFi post.

Out of curiosity, can I ask why you're doing this?
posted by pravit at 10:20 PM on October 23, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

So he can learn about how people like this professor react to this kind of thing. I hope he doesn't get discouraged from trying to do cool stuff if it doesn't work out.
posted by amtho at 5:20 AM on October 24, 2007

Yeah, I think googling my name is a legitimate way to go about cracking the password though.

I'm doing this as part of a response to Heidegger's "The Question Concerning Technology." It's somewhat satirical, commenting on Heidegger's accessibility as a writer. But I also think it's an interesting take on his notion of "revealing".

A lot of great suggestions. The PDF route has some potential. And, Kadin, he's an English Prof. However he is an extraordinarily unique Professor, and I think he will genuinely appreciate what I'm doing... despite its frustration.
posted by ndicecco at 5:25 AM on October 24, 2007

Maybe also hand in a second, non-passworded cd, labelled "For Emergency Only"? Just to be safe?
posted by inigo2 at 6:31 AM on October 24, 2007