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Title: Introduction to PGP
Source:
http://www.queen.clara.net/pgp/pgp.html
URL Source: http://www.queen.clara.net/pgp/pgp.html
Published: May 16, 2006
Author: ??
Post Date: 2006-05-16 12:27:03 by Neil McIver
Keywords: PGP
Views: 414
Comments: 9
I have set up this page in response to questions I get about PGP - what it is, where to get it, and how to use it. PGP (short for Pretty Good Privacy), created by Philip Zimmermann, is the de facto standard program for secure e-mail and file encryption on the Internet. Its public-key cryptography system enables people who have never met to secure transmitted messages against unauthorized reading and to add digital signatures to messages to guarantee their authenticity. Why do we need PGP? E-mail sent over the Internet is more like paper mail on a postcard than mail in a sealed envelope. It can easily be read, or even altered, by anyone with privileged access to any of the computers along the route followed by the mail. Hackers can read and/or forge e-mail. Government agencies eavesdrop on private communications. For further discussion of what PGP is for, and what it can do, read the following articles: In a full transcript of an interview More detailed information about PGP, and copies of the program itself for various platforms, can be found from the links given below. There is considerable overlap between these tutorials. If you don't find the information you need in one of them, try another, or try the FAQ. Some of these sites are out of date, referring only to older versions of PGP, but they still provide generally useful information. David Hamilton's short guide for beginners The proliferation of different PGP versions can be rather confusing. The following links provide an explanation of the various versions and what they can do: PGP Interactions Page Versions of the program for MS-DOS can be downloaded directly from here: The first two versions do the same thing, though the international version has certain minor advantages. Two different versions existed for legal reasons. PGP 2.6.3ia for RISC OS. Here you can find a collection of PGP software and other security utilities for RISC OS (Acorn) computers. There is also a RISC OS version of GnuPG, which is compatible with (and even superior to) modern versions of PGP. PGP versions 5 to 8 are available for Windows 95/98/NT, MacOS, Unix, Linux, OS/2 and Amiga, but not every version is available for every platform. Whichever operating system you use, you can find an appropriate version on one of the following sites: (for PGP 8.02) PGP 9 for Windows 2000/XP and Mac OS X is available from Although some of the following links are not up to date and lack information about the latest versions of PGP, they all provide useful general information. The United Kingdom Education and Research Networking Association (UKERNA) runs the Joint Academic Network (JANET) on behalf of the Academic Community of the U.K. (approximately ac.uk). UKERNA sees the current solution to authentication and privacy of documents to be PGP and is investigating how PGP can be made easy to use for sending e-mail. If you are mathematically inclined and understand (or are willing to learn) a little about modular arithmetic, you can read about the maths behind some public-key cryptosystems at the following URLs: Introduction to PGP
Contents
Beginner's section
What is PGP?
Basic tutorials for beginners
Downloading PGP
Some PGP-related links
The UKERNA Secure E-Mail Project
How PGP works (in part)
(2 images)
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#2. To: Neil McIver (#0)
Question: If someone makes a privacy program that prevents the gubmint from reading emails, does that program somehow become illegal or could the author be construed a "terrorist"?
#3. To: mehitable (#2)
I think your question will carry much more significance if/when someone creates an public key encryption system for VoIP phones, rendering government wiretapping worthless.
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