Picocrypt-NG (Unofficial)2.18

Protect individual files with a password by encrypting them through Picocrypt-NG (Unofficial), a compact utility for people who want focused file protection rather than a broader security suite. It belongs to the Security & Privacy category and is published by Tsugu. The program is a community-developed continuation of the archived Picocrypt project, and the original Picocrypt author neither endorses nor supports Picocrypt-NG.

To use it, select a file and provide a password, which Picocrypt-NG uses to derive encryption key material with Argon2id. XChaCha20 then protects the file data, connecting password-based access control with modern authenticated encryption. Its deliberately small interface concentrates on encrypting and protecting files instead of adding unrelated security functions. The source is available under an open-source license, allowing its implementation to be examined.

Picocrypt-NG targets Linux users who need to secure personal documents, archives, or other files before storing or sharing them. Current version 2.18 requires Linux with snapd and is built for x86_64, also called amd64. Users should read the project’s feature and limitation details before relying on it for a particular workflow, and should retain the password used for encryption because it is part of the recovery process.