Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Phil Zimmerman and PGP at CNN.com

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the stuff-to-encrypt dept.

rick_campbell writes "CNN is carrying an article about Phil Zimmerman and the fact that Network Associates is dropping support for the commercial version of Pretty Good Privacy. The article includes a little bit of Phil's take on the situation, a little history and some discussion of why this happened and what alternatives exist."

2 of 141 comments (clear)

  1. PGP can be saved by lw54 · · Score: 5, Informative
    PGP inventor Phil Zimmermann says PGP can be saved, and has outlined how in this interviw.

    "Anyone interested in helping should contact me," he added.

  2. Encrypted email alternatives by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · · Score: 4, Informative

    Hushmail (http://www.hushmail.com) is web-based OpenPGP mail. I'm a customer and sent Crypt-o-Gram a review, but have no other connection.

    The closest thing to the dream of "just press a button" is the S/MIME in Outlook. That still requires users to get a certificate ("a what?!", they will ask). And S/MIME has drawbacks.

    Pushbutton encryption is a delusion anyway. The details of key management are indispensable to security and require out-of-band verification. Unless you've checked a key fingerprint, or totally trust a key signer, you can be attacked by feeding you a fake public key and all the crypto wizardry is irrelevant.