Compression — WinRAR

Data is compressed almost all the time when it moves over the wire to reduce download time and transfer sizes. WinRAR uses a more advanced compression algorithm than classic ZIP, which is why we chose it for this test. It's also able to scale across multiple processor cores.

Compression — 7-Zip

Another popular compression software is 7-Zip, which includes a benchmark that measures the integer instruction rate (MIPS) using the ZIP algorithm. It makes good use of multiple threads, when available.

Encryption — AES

Encryption is the foundation for secure communication on the internet. The AES encryption standard is one of the most popular encryption algorithm these days because of its simplicity and resistance to attacks. Unlike other encryption methods, AES is symmetric, which means the same key is used for encrypting and decrypting data. Being able to quickly encrypt and decrypt information is important, which is the reason why modern processors have an instruction set extension called "AES-NI" that accelerates these operations.

Encryption — SHA3

"SHA" is technically not encryption, but hashing. A cryptographic hash function is a mathematical algorithm that creates a fingerprint value for existing data. This is a one-way function, which is practically impossible to invert. Another requirement for a good hashing algorithm is that you can't create a collision: craft a message that yields a specific hash value. The SHA3 algorithm achieves all that and is also often used to authenticate transmitted data which possibly was encrypted with AES first.