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Is There a Future for PGP?
Thom Dyson asks: "So it looks like McAfee is walking away from PGP. At least that's how I interpret their marketing
speak. I've been told PGP doesn't work on XP, does that hold true
for the Open Source version as well?"
PGP 7.0.3 for Windows 2000 does run on XP.
Well, kind of. Okay, so it gets very confused with fast user switching (it uses services which i think don't understand the concept of multiple users logged in simultaneously) so apart from the various errors that come up when you log in, yeah, it works. (Come to think of it, if it doesn't understand multiple users it certainly won't run on W2k Adv. Server with terminal services then...)
You can right click on files and do encrypt. pgpkeys and pgptools work fine.
Outlook 2002 (Office XP) plugin support is different. Yeah, it works. But not really well at all. The icons seem corrupt in outlook too. You need to enable an option to auto decrypt mail. Then when you open an email PGP tries to decrypt it automatically. (the reason you must do this is that the decrypt button on the toolbar doesn't work *shrug*). Sending encrypted mail on Outlook 2002 works fine too.
I've been doing this for about a month now, with no ill effect.
So yeah, PGP 7.0.3 works on WinXP. It would be nice if it supported XP properly.
D.
You can tell how powerful someone is by the magnitude of the crime they can commit and be able to get away with.
Most hardcore cypherpunks seems to still use PGP 2.6.x! (If USENET sigs/keys are any indication)
In any case, check out pgpi.com for different versions of PGP, many of which are actively developed. Also, search for "Cyber-KnightsTemplar PGP". I only used this version when I was a dedicated Windows user.
Now, I use GnuPG for mail/file crypto, and loopback crypto for filesystems (/pub/linux/kernel/people/hvr at your favorite mirror). I run Windows and Linux under VMWare, using the "undoable" drive type, hosted on a blowfish-encrypted loopback volume, which leaves no physical evidence on my machine of activities in the VM). I also dabble in Ouguess for my stego "needs".
While my practices in paranoia are fun, I don't take them too seriously. However, I like the idea of being able to Ascroft-Proof(tm) my machine if I wish. :-)
Method of processing duck feet
it simply isn't easy to use
Huh? Since when? I use it, seems quite simple to me. You generate a keypair at install time, secure your private key with a passphrase, and two buttons get added to your mailclient - one for encryption of the message, other for signing.
When you send a signed email, you're asked for that passphrase, and when you receive an encrypted mail you're asked the same -- automagically. Likewise, a digisig is also confirmed at that time too.
Using the key manager, you can see your public key, submit to a keyserver (like pgp.mit.edu) for others to obtain, as well as add your friend's pubkeys to your keyring. And it's very straightforward to do.
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
S/MIME seems to be no longer supported in current Netscape (version 6.0 and newer). There were problems transfering signatures/mails between mail programs of different brands (i.e. M$ and Netscape) with S/MIME. PGP / GnuPG is without any problems for any mailprogram when using the tray application.