Pgp ....

[bob999]

Hi ,

I am thinking of installing PGP for email use. I have been recommended to use pgp version 6.58 not the latest version because the newer one is not open source.

My questions :

Will this version of 6.58 allow me to send encrypted emails that can , if the recipient does not have pgp , decrypt themselves upon arrival at the intended email address. ie encryption only for transit.

I have windows 2000. Will loading this software cause me any problems/conflicts with this plus any problems with Outlook express (version 5) ?

Is there anything else I should know about before installing ?

Thanks !

[denolth2]

methinks that unless your contact has the pgp of equal or newer version than you, then there may be some conflicts due to key generation and the ability to encrypt/decrypt....also, if you contact doesn't have it, then it won't work....he'll just get garbage on the other end.....

win2k shouldn't cause problems....but I only used ver 7.03

den2:p

[phrost]

I have winxp professional and I recently installed pgp it screwed my computer up really bad. All the internet settings were gone and dhcp would no longer work. I wouldnt recommend it. Try something like hushmail which is free or steganos security suite.

[greEd]

pgp is somewhat of a standard, you should have no problems installing or using it, read the documentation.

[Thorazine]

I know that with WinXP Pro PGPDisk (7.1 Corp) may break your PC because the version of NTFS has changed to 5.1. The firewall that comes with it also will create problems. If you install just the mail plug-in you'll be fine.

[Easto]

Bob999
I'm not sure about the version conflicts but yes, there is a feature to send encrypted emails to people who do not use pgp (at least in my version there is). I can't remember the term they use for it but it is possible

[bob999]

what version of pgp do you use ?

[Thorazine]

How do you send encrypted messages to people without a pgp key?

[anonaconda]

Sending pgp-crypted stuff that auto-decrypts doesn't seem to fit with real security.

The whole point of pgp is that the intended-recipient sends you their public key: you then discuss this key via an alternative-channel (e.g. phone: pgp has tools to aid this discussion) to make sure you got a clean/un-intercepted/un-modified version of the key. From then on you can crypt to that key and *NOBODY ELSE* is going to get plaintext unless the key-owner discloses the private key & it's password.

Security is also enhanced by the "signature" function in pgp (and other public-key crypto systems) - it's so nice to know for *CERTAIN* who sent that message. Signatures can't work without your correspondants having their own public & private keys.

Anything that bypasses the full pgp process doesn't suit my paranoia.

I've been using PGP 6.5.2 for years. So far I had no probs swapping crypts with people who decided to trust later versions.

I did have problems on one machine when I accidentally :o allowed the install of some pgp addons beyond the basic tools - nothing fatal, but the system slowed down to a funeral pace until PGP-VPN and other chrome fins were removed.

'conda

[bob999]

"why would you send pgp-crypt to someone who has no key?"



Because most people I know dont have pgp and therefore have no public key to swop !

Plus if sending emails to other people chances are that they wont have pgp either . True that the best is full pgp but until more people start downloading this program I feel that this - self decrypting - is the best alternative !

I have done a bit of reading about the subject and Have read some disasters with people downloading pgp and it crashing their systems. If anyone else with some experience - good or bad - of this program would like to share it with us.....

[anonaconda]

My old 6.5.2 includes a self-decrypt exe possibility (tho I never used it).

You encrypt to your choice of passphrase: this still leaves you with the age-old problem of securely transferring the passphrase, but any security is better than none.

If you are not going public-key, then maybe something simple like DES under DOS will avoid worries you have about installing PGP (but single DES can be cracked in some hours)

'conda