creating a password protected zip archive on mac osx

~> sudo port install zip
# you can also use fink

~> sudo mv /usr/bin/zip /usr/bin/zip-old
~> sudo ln -s /opt/local/bin/zip /usr/bin/

~> zip -e new_zipfile_name.zip /path/to/file1 /path/to/file2 ...

# enter password when prompted...

# note that this will open perfectly normally under windows
# but under mac osx you need to use either unzip via a terminal
# or download and use stuffit expander to open the file
# mac osx's bomarchivehelper does not handle password zip files