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Ask Slashdot: Cryptography in Mail software?

Bartmoss asksL: "Obviously, nobody will use encryption if two problems occure: (a) your friends won't be able to read your mail because they don't have crypto, and (b) your software doesn't have crypto. I'm wondering - are there good HOWTO's and info sites on how to plug encryption into leading mail software for UNIX, Mac and Windows? What Windows-Software supports PGP, and which can have PGP support added? Does anybody have information on clients people could use for crypted mails?"

133 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. forget MUA, go MTA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I was discussing this with my friends after watching Enemy of the State and the general consensus was that the usability issues combined with the goofy US laws were insurmountable for ordinary users, and that wide spread encryption was never going to happen on the MUA level. It's great that has [P|G]GP support, but realistically it's a very small subset of people who you can mail. The best solution IMHO is to patch sendmail such that it automagically encrypts your mail if the remote server supports it. I was looking into implementing this, when I found it was already done. It was done in Australia by some guy working at Qualcomm and it's called ssmail, and it's at:
    http://www.home.aone.net.au/qualcomm/
    and I think it's GPL'd. While it's not as good a solution if you just want to encrypt your mail to 1 or 2 others, it's a much better mass solution if you are the admin for a mail domain. I urge you to start using it.

    --sam

    1. Re:forget MUA, go MTA by TeddyR · · Score: 1

      The thing is, I have found that most people want to encrypt not to hide stuff from the govt, but to hide stuff from nosy system admins at their ISPs or workplace. Man-In-The-Middle intercepts are a factor, but many are more concerned with "who can read my mail before I get it while it is waiting for me"



      https://www.mav.net/teddyr/syousif/

      --

      --
      Time is on my side
    2. Re:forget MUA, go MTA by hunterotd · · Score: 1

      Hmmm, how about a system like this: user@host1 mails user@host2. host1 contacts host2, requesting its pgp public key. host2 gives it to host1 who caches it for later use. host1 then encrypts user's message, sends them to host2, who decrypts them and hands them to the user. No need for any user intervention. problems: 1. All information is viewable at both locations, therefore any court orders can be quickly and easily followed by the sysadmins. 2. This makes brute force hacking on those public keys much more profitable. Imagine having the public key for hotmail.com. Now imagine the damage that could potentially be done with it. 3. This doesn't help with J. Random Cracker running a packet sniffer on his super duper Win9x box. He can still oWn Y0u.

      --
      . when in danger or in doubt, run in circles scream and shout --Robert Heinlein
  2. MH is pretty key, yes, it is ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I love MH and nmh and exmh -- they have supported PGP for years and do so transparently and securely and, unlike most other readers, allow you to manage gigantic volumes of mail. PGP, MH, and procmail -- I never even need to drop into X! It is a pity that more people don't use MH. It is a pity that O'Reilly dropped the MH book (although it was good of them to allow Mr. Peek's book to be GPL-ed). Oh well.

    Kids: I know that a lot of you are pretty young. If you don't mind a bit of advocacy from an old fart, learn MH. Like many enduring things in the UNIX world, there is a reason that it has stuck around -- it works. elm and mutt (really what elm should be) are good, pine is good, albeit basic. But you should look at MH. Imagine being able to do anything that you can think of from the command line while working on other things. No shelling out, nothing. exmh allows you to do all of this in X. MH and exmh are both rock solid and very rewarding, and they both give you that nice feeling after a while that this really is The Right Thing.

    Here are some URLs:

    http://www.ics.uci.edu/~mh/book/ for a basic website.

    ftp://ftp.gw.com/pub/people/jpeek/mh/book-ps/ is the book, still updated regularly, and a very good read. Pull it down and read it.

    http://www.ics.uci.edu/~mh/book/mh/senove.htm#Se nPGP and http://www.ics.uci.edu/~mh/book/mh/remime.htm#ReaP GP covers the use of PGP in MH. http://www.ics.uci.edu/~mh/book/exmh/thbuied.htm#P GP covers it in exmh.

    OK that is it for advocacy on this fine morning. The birds are singing, the s70s are at 2-3 (loafing, my children, loafing), and I think that I will go show the mainframers what REAL coffee tastes like.

    Have fun. 'Cause if it ain't fun, you're doing it wrong (this can be applied to many things ...).

    1. Re:MH is pretty key, yes, it is ... by Luis+Casillas · · Score: 1
      PGP, MH, and procmail -- I never even need to drop into X!

      That's my recipe! And I'm what you might consider a "kid" ;-).

      It's amazing what one can do with these programs and the basic Unix toolkit-- shell scripts, the command line utilities, cron and at.

      ---

  3. Don't forget GPG aka GnuPG aka GNU Privacy Guard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    Everyone in the GNU/linux world
    should be talking about GPG instead of PGP
    GPG aka GnuPG aka GNU Privacy Guard
    fully openPGP compatible

    http://www.d.shuttle.de/isil/gnupg/
    http://www.gnupg.org

    there is even a wrapper for compatibility with
    pgp 2.6
    http://www.nessie.de/mroth/pgpgpg/

  4. mailcrypt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    For those using Emacs for email, Mailcrypt
    is an excellent tool for integrating PGP
    support. Also, the original author, Pat LoPresti,
    is a nice guy.

  5. Bahhhhhhhhhh! Just Do What I Do! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    Develop your own provably secure encryption algorithm, and then whenever you want to send email to a friend, encrypt it 3 or 4 times over with different keys, zip it using InfoZip but change the extension to ".tgz" or ".tar.gz" (very important!), then uuencode it and encrypt the result. Now split the file up into a thousand chunks and intersperse them in an MPEG animation as spurious frames. Take note of which frames have the real data in them and split the numbers up into groups of 4 (this will be important later on). Now place the MPEG on a zip disk, mislabel it as "holiday pictures" (sneaky!) and place in a regular postal envelope. Finally, hire out a Brink's truck and 4 guards to drive the package to the intended recipient. Make each of the 4 guards memorize one group of the MPEG frames without telling them what it is.

    VOILA! One secure email!

    1. Re:Bahhhhhhhhhh! Just Do What I Do! by TeddyR · · Score: 1

      Actually.. to deter the possibility of collusion (guards DO talk amongst themselves), have two separate brinks trucks. Each truck they learn four codes (which only two are needed, but they dont know which one, and are told that only one of them is needed)

      :-)



      https://www.mav.net/teddyr/syousif/

      --

      --
      Time is on my side
  6. ln -s mutt asdf by Fiznarp · · Score: 1

    If it's that hard for you to type, link it to something that isn't.

  7. telnet mailhost 25 by Luis+Casillas · · Score: 1
    Well, if that are your requirements for a mailer, telnet would make a fine mailer....

    ---

  8. Mew by Luis+Casillas · · Score: 1
    Last time I looked at Mew, I recall finding it very nice feature-wise, but completely backwards keymap-wise. (Who doesn't instinctively press the "r" key to "(r)eply" to a message, rather than the "a" key to "(a)nswer?)

    Of course, one could remap it. But figuring out how to tweak an email agent is a waste of time unless you're already decided on it.

    ---

  9. Re:PGP-aware SMTP/POP3/IMAP4 proxy? by Luis+Casillas · · Score: 1
    Rather than dealing with the problems of hacking encryption into MUAs, why not create a PGP encrypting/decrypting proxy that would work seamlessly with any MUA?

    I assume you mean a proxy that will run on your same machine, and not on the network; otherwise, you're transmitting cleartext on the wires.

    ---

  10. Re:Could someone explain PGP/Encryption in mail? by Luis+Casillas · · Score: 1
    There are mainly two kinds of cryptography in use: secret key and public/private key.

    Secret key cryptography are systems that use a single secret key both to encrypt and decrypt the message. That is, both the sender and the recipient need to arrange for both to have the secret key, over some kind of secure channel. This approach is not practical to use over the net, since transmitting the key over it would place the users in danger of it being intercepted.

    Public/private key cryptography uses a pair of keys: one to encrypt messages, and a second one to decrypt them. This works the following way: suppose you want to send me an encrypted message. What you (or anyone) would have to do is get a copy of my public encryption key (which I could place in an accesible place, like my home page), and use that to encrypt the message. When I receive it, only I can read it, since it can only be decrypted with the private key I keep on a safe computer. Of course, I need to protect my private key from being stolen. But the main point is that I never have to transmit the private decryption key over the net, while my public encryption key can be wholly public.

    This is the method used by PGP to encrypt email, by SSH for encrypted logins, and SSL for secure sockets (like when you use a secure web connection). A variant of it is used for PGP signatures (which can, in conjunction with a public key, cryptographically guarantee that some file has not been altered).

    ---

  11. Re:Eudora plugin available by seymour · · Score: 1

    Why get the commercial Eudora plugin when it is included in the freeware international PGPi releases? Current version is 6.02i I think, works great with Eudora.

  12. Re:"Pine" is easier to type by J4 · · Score: 1

    Heehee mutt pisses on pine....film @ 11

  13. Well... That answers that question. by torpor · · Score: 1

    Next.

    --
    ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
  14. PGP4Pine by Indomitus · · Score: 2

    If you use Pine, there is a package called PGP4Pine which you can find at
    freshmeat. It lets you use PGP seamlessly in Pine. I haven't personally had time to set it up but a bunch of my friends use it and recomend it.

    1. Re:PGP4Pine by suprax · · Score: 1

      A little weird to incorperate. With past experiences with PGP4Pine, I found that it is a little weird. After all of the instructions and all, I don't think I even got it working. Maybe I will take a better look at it today.

    2. Re:PGP4Pine by PG13 · · Score: 1

      What the hell does PGP4Pine do? Without this product you can STILL set up incoming and outgoing filters that seem to do everything pgp4pine does.

      I am convinced there must be some added functionality but I am unaware of it and would love to find out what it is.

      --
      Marriage is the "pseudo-ethics" that cloaks the messy truth of sexuality in the raiment of propriety -- it's "Don't Ask,
    3. Re:PGP4Pine by PG13 · · Score: 1

      But its 147K of simplifying it a little bit. The filters take about 2 minutes to explain/set up. That extra 145K must do SOMETHING!

      my new opinion is that it is a security hole to send your encrypted email to the government.

      --
      Marriage is the "pseudo-ethics" that cloaks the messy truth of sexuality in the raiment of propriety -- it's "Don't Ask,
    4. Re:PGP4Pine by Lord+of+the+Files · · Score: 2

      I think it's just supposed to simplify it a little. If nothing else its documentation at least explains how to set up the filters, which I never would have figured out on my own.

      --

      God does not play dice - Einstein

      Not only does God play dice, he sometimes throws them where they

    5. Re:PGP4Pine by PhoneMonkey · · Score: 1

      But are there any good clients other than Eudora for Windows@Work types out there - including me :(

      Eudora is clumsy as hell.

      --
      It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of Karma to burn off
  15. Re:GPG rules by gavinhall · · Score: 1

    Posted by Moritz Moeller - Herrmann:

    I agree. It installs easily and works perfectly with mutt. I can really recommend it!

  16. Re:Well... by C.Lee · · Score: 1

    >>If I was a goverment agent in charge of snooping through email don't >>you think that I would have a scanner similar to a virus detector >>looking for encrypted messages?

    >That's exactly the reason why we all should use encryption for _all_ of our messages.

    Eh? Haven't you heard the best way to hide something is to hide it in plain sight?

  17. Re:Well... by C.Lee · · Score: 2

    Bah. Cryptography in Mail is a joke. It's something to play with, but really isn't all that useful in the real world. Let's face it, unless you're really dealing with really sensitive matters, the hassle involed with encryption isn't worth it, and all it really does is call attention to yourself. Think about it. If I was a goverment agent in charge of snooping through email don't you think that I would have a scanner similar to a virus detector looking for encrypted messages? The scanner may not be able to decrypt the messages, but it could flag and save the headers (including the adresses of the computers sending and receiving the encrypted mail) to a file so they could be investigated later by human field agents.

    I really think you encryption supporters are really operating under a false sense of security. If the goverment really wants to get you, they will. End of story.

  18. Re:Well... by Nelson · · Score: 1
    Lotus Notes does it automatically and it is pretty nice. The problem is that it is really centralized and that your admins can still read your email if they want, your competitors cannot though. WHen it's automatic it is nice and easy and very convienient, I like it when I get authenticated email in netscape.


    You're right though, it's a chicken and egg problem, you draw attention to yourself when you encrypt email, fortunately I have nothing to hide so attention spent paying attention to my email will protect those who should fear our government.


    As for the sense of security, a false sense of security can be better than none at all. I also presume that you are talking about methods other than simply capturing and decrypting emails. If all email was encrypted, I'd feel pretty good that mine weren't the ones that were being focused on for decryption.

  19. Re:here's a few by Da+w00t · · Score: 1

    It may be a "good" idea next time to post a link instead of doing 'Edit -> View Source' and selecting then pasting....makes me wonder if there is/should be a comment byte limit. :)

    --

    da w00t. mtfnpy?
  20. Mutt by hilander · · Score: 1

    Mutt has inbuilt suport for the various PGP flavours (2 5 and gpg)

  21. Re:Well... by Gregg+M · · Score: 1

    ...high-grade encryption offers little resistance to a court-ordered search warrant

    Wow Those are easy to get! I get one or two a day! :P

    Yes but they still need the passphrase to unlock the message. You can just keep the passphrase to yourself. (take the fifth?) I know you can talk about temp files and swap files and stuff, but if you look at real world examples those things don't usually come into play. If you are really paranoid then you can get the tools to scrub your hd anywhere.
    In my opinion it's not the government that would be crippled by crypto it's small time spooks like jealous boyfriends and industrial spys. I think crypto would stop more crime than it would hide!

    --
    Linux is only free if your time has no value. Windows is only free if you threaten to use Linux.
  22. Re:You simply cannot beat mutt by suprax · · Score: 1

    It's ironic that you said this. In the last day, I decided to try out mutt instead of my old faithful pine. After messing around with my .muttrc, I got it working semi-ok. The keys and everything were so alien to me that it was a pain learning them. I like the scroll down feature that pine has and mutt dosen't. While mutt might be great with PGP and can be configured in many ways, I have retreated back to my good old pine. Hitting the down key is a little too weird for me instead of "n".

  23. Re:You simply cannot beat mutt by suprax · · Score: 1

    Ok, fixed the bindings and got scrolling down to work. Thanks.

  24. Re:If you don't like the mappings, fix them... by suprax · · Score: 1

    Ok, I used parts of that file and now mutt acts just like I want to. Except an option to bind a key to go back to the main index of messages. :)

  25. "Free" for non-commercial S/MIME implementation by itamar · · Score: 1

    JCSI is in Java. You'll need to download many a package from Javasoft before you'll get it to work.
    --
    http://www.wholepop.com/
    Whole Pop Magazine Online - Pop Culture

    --
    http://www.wholepop.com/
    Whole Pop Magazine Online - Pop Culture
  26. An old (may 1996) summary of secure MUAs (etc) by Piete · · Score: 2
    Paul Leyland and I did an investigation for Secure Email for ac.uk, but the powers that be decided `secure email is not wanted' :-(

    For MUA integration, see Mail User Agent Survey

  27. here's a few by goon · · Score: 1
    for the latest (win 3.x/9x/nt, unix and others) PGPi software (legal non US export controlled software) look here......

    here's some more stuff,

    Search results

    59 programs matched your search criteria.

    Aegis Shell (16-bit) 3.0.8

    • Author: AEgis Research
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: shell16.exe
    • License: Freeware for personal use
    • Homepage: http://www.aegisrc.com/Products/Shell/
    • Description: Developed for those who need to secure their e-mail with PGP, but do not like the DOS command prompt, PGP Windows Shell provides push-button control to PGP.

    Aegis Shell (32-bit) 3.0.8

    • Author: AEgis Research
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: shell32.exe
    • License: Freeware for personal use
    • Homepage: http://www.aegisrc.com/Products/She ll/index.htm
    • Description: Developed for those who need to secure their e-mail with PGP, but do not like the DOS command prompt, PGP Windows Shell provides push-button control to PGP.

    BetweenUs

    • Author: TamoSoft
    • Category: Tool
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 5.x/6.x
    • License: Commercial, try before you buy
    • Homepage: http://www.tamos.com/bu.htm
    • Description: Encrypted peer-to-peer chat, conferencing and file transfers. PGP-compatible mode allows the usage of existing PGP keys for encryption and authentication. Full support for PGP version 5.5.2 and higher.

    Calyspo 3 PGP plugin

    • Author: MCS, Inc.
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 5.x/6.x
    • License: Shareware
    • Homepage: http://www.mcsdallas.com/mcs/calypso/
    • Description: Email plugin for Calypso E-mail Client.

    Claris Emailer plugin

    • Author: Network Associates, Inc.
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: MacOS
    • For use with: PGP 5.x/6.x
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.pgpi.com/download/
    • Description: This plugin integrates PGP with Claris Emailer. It is included in the PGP 6.0.2i distribution.

    CryptoEx 1.0b4

    • Author: Glueck & Kanja
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • License: Commercial (free beta-versions available)
    • Homepage: http://www.glueckkanja.de/
    • Description: A professional PGP extension for Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange. The client-based, transparent extension has been fully integrated into the familiar email user environment. It automatically recognizes encrypted emails and offers an easy-to-use keyring administration. CryptoEx works with both the US and the international version of PGP. A user-friendly adminstrator tool helps distributing CryptoEx and managing user options in large Windows networks.

    Emacs auto-pgp

    Encryplet 1.0

    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: MacOS
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: encryplet-10fc1-as.hqx
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: ftp://ftp.ifi.uio.no/pu b/pgp/2.x/mac/encryplet-10fc1-as.hqx
    • Description: AppleScript droplet which makes it easy to encrypt and decrypt files by drag-and-dropping them onto a Desktop Encryptor icon.

    Eudora 3.x and 4.x plugin

    • Author: Network Associates, Inc.
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 5.x/6.x
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.pgpi.com/download/
    • Description: This plugin integrates PGP with Eudora 3.x or 4.x. It is included in the PGP 6.0.2i distribution.

    Eudora plugin

    • Author: Network Associates, Inc.
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: MacOS
    • For use with: PGP 5.x/6.x
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.pgpi.com/download/
    • Description: This plugin integrates PGP with Eudora. It is included in the PGP 6.0.2i distribution.

    Gibbon PGP Front-End for EPM 1.2

    • Author: Gibbon Computer Products, Inc.
    • Category: Tool
    • Platform: OS/2
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: gcppgp12.zip
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.gibbon.com/catalog/pgpfe.html
    • Description: The Gibbon PGP Front-End is an E language macro that creates a PGP menu on the EPM menu bar. This allows menued use of PGP whenever you are using the EPM editor. Since both NewsReader/2 and LAMail use EPM, this will allow seamless integration of PGP into your Newsreader and E-Mail.

    Gui4PGP 2.0

    • Author: Sascha Ott
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: g4p20.zip
    • License: Shareware
    • Homepage: http://www.lanobis.de/~sascha/gui4pgp.ht ml
    • Description: Full Windows95 conform * Almost no DOS-windows * Read PGPs textoutput in the Gui4PGP-editor * En-decrypting/signing via hotkey * Copy text to clipboard, push hotkey - ready * Support for Microsoft Internet Explorer * Multilanguage * Register own file extensions - decrypting simply out of the explorer * Treeview of the public keyring * Define your own user-buttons * All keymanagement commands built in * Simple en-and decrypting in the internal editor * Choose user with only a mouse click - and much more!

    Lock & Key 3.1

    • Author: Walter E. Heindl
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: lk32v310.zip
    • License: Shareware ($19.95)
    • Homepage: http://www.voicenet.com/~wheindl/lock &key.htm
    • Description: Lock & Key integrates PGP functions into the Windows 95 Explorer. Right-click to encrypt a file. Double-click to decrypt. Decrypt to QuickView/+. Choose a recipient from a drop-down list. Supports signing files, viewing signatures, adding keys, viewing the keyring, and Win95 long file names. Version 3.0 adds: multiple language support; context-sensitive help; an integrated editor for composing messages; open or print a decrypted file; append your public key to outgoing messages.

    MS Outlook 97/98 and Exchange plugin

    • Author: Network Associates, Inc.
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 5.x/6.x
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.pgpi.com/download/
    • Description: This plugin integrates PGP with Microsoft Outlook 97/98 or Exchange. It is included in the PGP 6.0.2i distribution.

    MS Outlook Express 4 plugin

    • Author: Network Associates, Inc.
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 5.x/6.x
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.pgpi.com/download/
    • Description: This plugin integrates PGP with Microsoft Outlook Express 4 (not 5!). It is included in the PGP 6.0.2i distribution.

    MacPGP Control 1.0

    • Author: Raïf S. Naffah
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: MacOS
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • License: Shareware ($15)
    • Homepage: http://www.deepeddy.com/pgp/
    • Description: AppleScript application that offers an easy-to-use, more Macintosh friendly user interface to MacPGP 2.x.

    MailPGP 1.3

    • Author: Sami Tolvanen
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: lk32v310.zip
    • Requires: mfc4.zip
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.iki.fi/st/mailpgp/
    • Description: MailPGP is an advanced, yet fast and easy-to-use Windows user interface for PGP. MailPGP conveniently integrates PGP with every program that uses the clipboard and does not require any space from the screen since the window can be minimized to the taskbar notification area. PGP is run on the background and the DOS window is shown only if necessary. You can encrypt, decrypt and sign messages on the clipboard just by clicking the taskbar icon. The most important key management functions are located on a pop-up menu. You can also easily encrypt and decrypt files by choosing them from a file dialog, or just by dragging and dropping one to the program window. Requires properly installed PGP 2.6.x or newer and mfc40.dll.

    Mailcrypt 3.5.3

    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Unix
    • For use with: PGP 2.x/5.x
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.nb.net/~lbudney /linux/software/mailcrypt.html
    • Description: Mailcrypt is an Emacs Lisp package which provides a simple interface to public key cryptography with PGP 2.x/5.x, as well as GnuPG.

    MandelSteg and GIFExtract 1.0

    • Author: Henry Hastur
    • Category: Tool
    • Platform: Unix / MS-DOS
    • For use with: PGP 2.x/5.x/6.x
    • Filename: MandSteg.tar.Z
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.unicorn.com/pgp/m-readme.html
    • Description: These two programs allow you to hide confidential data in fractal GIF images, giving an increased level of security compared to sending PGP-encrypted email over the Internet.

    Mollusc 1.0

    • Author: Net Services
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Windows 3.x/95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: mlsc100.exe
    • License: Commercial, try before you buy
    • Homepage: http://www.compulink.co.uk/~net-servi ces/pgp/
    • Description: Direct interface to your e-mail software - you don't have to cut and paste. Extensive key management including Key Server functions. Mollusc currently supports Eudora Pro (v2.2 - 32 bit), Eudora Light (1.5.2 and 1.5.4), Pegasus Mail 2.40, WinCIM 2.0, Ameol, Free Agent and Netscape 1.2N.

    PGP Encryptor Interface 1.1

    • Author: John Navas
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pgpjn.zip
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://web.aimnet.com/~jnavas/w inpmail/helpers.html
    • Description: Integrates seamlessly into Pegasus Mail for Windows (Version 2.23 and above), making it easy to protect email messages with secure PGP public ke encryption and/or digital signatures. NB! Only works with the 16-bit versions of Pegasus Mail.

    PGP Extension for Microsoft Exchange 1.10

    • Author: Jon Whalen
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Windows 3.x/95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pgpext.zip
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://homepage.interaccess.com/~jon/
    • Description: PGP Extension is an add-on for Microsoft Exchange that allows execution of basic PGP commands from the Exchange menu.

    PGP Manager (16-bit) 1.3

    • Author: Ollivier Civiol
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pgpman13.zip
    • License: Shareware
    • Homepage: http://www.voicenet.com/~jank/astec/ pgpman.htm
    • Description: Sporting a friendly front-end, PGP Manager allows you to type in your message then Encrypt it and send it through the mail. PGP Manager Supports the Windows MAPI SubSystem. When an encrypted message is in your mailbox, it will show in the main combobox, click and read. PGP Manager requires PGP 2.6 and up (some functions require PGP 2.6.3i (multiple recipients)).

    PGP Manager (32-bit) 2.2b

    • Author: Ollivier Civiol
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pgpmgr22b.zip
    • License: Shareware
    • Homepage: http://www.voicenet.com/~jank/astec/ pgpman.htm
    • Description: Sporting a friendly front-end, PGP Manager allows you to type in your message then Encrypt it and send it through the mail. PGP Manager Supports the Windows MAPI SubSystem. When an encrypted message is in your mailbox, it will show in the main combobox, click and read. PGP Manager requires PGP 2.6 and up (some functions require PGP 2.6.3i (multiple recipients)).

    PGP QuickFront 1.0

    • Author: Ross Barclay / Ugali International Corp.
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pqf.zip
    • Requires: vbrun300.zip
    • License: Shareware ($25)
    • Homepage: http://www.netacce ss.on.ca/~rbarclay/ugali/crypt/quickfront.html
    • Description: PGP QuickFront works as a companion to PGP WinFront. It uses the clipboard so thus can interface with any Windows application. The encryption and decryption is automatic. It also makes signatures and check signatures.

    PGP REXX 1.2

    • Author: Lueko Willms
    • Category: Tool
    • Platform: OS/2
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://nick.secant.com/pgprex.htm
    • Description: PGP REXX consists of seven REXX scripts to automate PGP usage from your OS/2 internet mail program. PGP REXX works with Post Road Mailer, PMMAIL and MR/2 ICE.

    PGP Windows 1.1

    • Author: Roger Kurrat
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pgpwin11.zip
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage:
    • Description: PGP Windows offers an easy to use interface to PGP. Includes key management and clipboard integration.

    PGP Winfront (16-bit) 3.1

    • Author: Ugali International Corp.
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pwf31.zip
    • Requires: vbrun300.zip
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.netaccess .on.ca/~rbarclay/ugali/crypt/winfront.html
    • Description: PWF provides a very efficient way of accessing the full functionality of PGP through an intuitive Windows interface.

    PGP Winfront (32-bit) 4.0

    • Author: Ugali International Corp.
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pwf32402.zip
    • Requires: vbrun300.zip
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.netaccess .on.ca/~rbarclay/ugali/crypt/winfront.html
    • Description: PWF provides a very efficient way of accessing the full functionality of PGP through an intuitive Windows interface.

    PGP-PM32 0.7 beta

    PGP4Pine (aka PAPP)

    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Unix
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~gator/pgp 4pine/
    • Description: PGP4Pine, also known as "PAPP" ("Pine And PGP") is a Perl script to integrate pgp into the popular mail reader Pine.

    PGPClick (16-bit) 2.5

    • Author: Robert Wilson
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pgpclk16.zip
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.ncinter.net/~rewilson/PGPClic k/
    • Description: PGPClick was written to simplify use of PGP encryption for email applications. Once properly set up, most encryption and decryption can be accomplished with just one or two mouse clicks. PGPClick works well with email readers, newsreaders, text editors, word processors, and almost any program that edits text.

    PGPClick (32-bit) 2.5

    • Author: Robert Wilson
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pgpclk32.zip
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.ncinter.net/~rewilson/PGPClic k/
    • Description: PGPClick was written to simplify use of PGP encryption for email applications. Once properly set up, most encryption and decryption can be accomplished with just one or two mouse clicks. PGPClick works well with email readers, newsreaders, text editors, word processors, and almost any program that edits text.

    PGPClip 1.4.4

    • Author: Michael Meyer
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pcl1_1_4.zip
    • Requires: vbrun300.zip
    • License: Shareware
    • Homepage: http://ourworld.compuserv e.com/homepages/michael_p_meyer/
    • Description: PGPClip utilizes the clipboard for most PGP functions. Provides immediate desktop access to PGP functions.

    PGPSort 1.0

    • Author: Ståle Schumacher Ytteborg
    • Category: Tool
    • Platform: Unix / MS-DOS
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pgpsort.zip
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: ftp://ftp.pgpi.com/pub/pgp/2.x/ pc/msdos/pgpsort.zip
    • Description: Sorts PGP public keyrings and (optionally) removes bad keys.

    PGPn123 (freeware) 1.0 beta 5

    • Author: Alpha1 Enterprises
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pn123-05.zip
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.pobox.com/~alpha1/epgpn123.htm
    • Description: PGPn123 floats above your e-mail application in the form of a toolbar, making it possible to click a single button to sign, encrypt or decrypt your messages. PGPn123 has been found to work well with Eudora, Agent, Netscape, Pegasus, and a few other products.

    PGPn123 (shareware) 1.8

    • Author: Alpha1 Enterprises
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pn123e18.zip
    • License: Shareware
    • Homepage: http://www.pobox.com/~alpha1/epgpn123.htm
    • Description: PGPn123 floats above your e-mail application in the form of a toolbar, making it possible to click a single button to sign, encrypt or decrypt your messages. PGPn123 has been found to work well with Eudora, Agent, Netscape, Pegasus, and a few other products.

    PGPoMAGIC 2.4

    • Author: Jens Bruhn
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pom24.zip
    • License: Shareware
    • Homepage: http://members.aol.com/PGPoMAGIC/
    • Description: PGPoMAGIC features a "fast clip board" mode that allows you to highlight and capture text for encryption in any editable window. Decryption with only one mouse click. This version now supports things like networks (PGP may be somewhere in the net, the keyrings in an other directory and PoM may be in a third directory; all users can use PGP with their own configuration) and multiple keyrings

    PGPsendmail 1.4

    PGPtoGUI

    PGPwho

    PMMail/2 2.0

    PgpEudra 1.02

    • Author: Hans Bausewein / Comerwell Software
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Windows 3.x/95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pgpeudra102.zip
    • License: Freeware for personal use
    • Homepage: http://www.xs4all.nl/~comerwel/pgpeudra/
    • Description: PgpEudra is a PGP-shell that runs as an extension to Eudora. It adds a menu item "Run PGP..." to Eudora's "Message" menu, thereby making receiving and sending encrypted mail very easy. It supports just the basic PGP tasks encrypt, decode, sign and check signature. No copy and paste needed anymore. Works with both 16 and 32 bit versions of Eudora.

    PowerPGP (16-bit) 2.0

    • Author: Joe Fennin
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: ppgp2-16.zip
    • License: Shareware ($20)
    • Homepage: http://www.frontiernet.net/~jfeen in/powerpgp.html
    • Description: PowerPGP lets you write and encrypt messages. After that you can cut and paste your message into any windows based e-mail program.

    PowerPGP (32-bit) 2.20

    • Author: Joe Fennin
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: ppgp2-32.zip
    • License: Shareware ($20)
    • Homepage: http://www.frontiernet.net/~jfeen in/powerpgp.html
    • Description: PowerPGP lets you write and encrypt messages. After that you can cut and paste your message into any windows based e-mail program.

    Private Idaho 2.8b3

    • Author: Joel McNamara
    • Category: Tool
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pi28b3.exe
    • Requires: vbrun300.zip
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.eskimo.com/~joelm/pi.html
    • Description: A PGP/anonymous remailer utility for e-mail software. Supports direct sending of SMTP e-mail, as well direct receipt of PGP messages from POP3 mailboxes. Also supports multiple NYM servers, NYMS, multiple PGP keys for signing, etc., support for C2.org remailer, usenet posting through remailers, and more.

    Privtool 0.90 beta

    • Author: Mark Grant
    • Category: Email client
    • Platform: Unix
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.unicorn.com/privtool/privt ool.html
    • Description: Privtool is intended to be a PGP-aware replacement for the standard Sun Workstation mailtool program, with a similar user interface and automagick support for PGP-signing and PGP-encryption. Privtool runs on Linux and FreeBSD as well as SunOS and Solaris.

    Pronto Secure 1.13

    QDPGP 2.60

    • Author: Gerard R Thomas
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 5.x/6.x
    • Filename: qdpgp.zip
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.wow.net/community/grt/qdpgp. html
    • Description: Email plugin for Pegasus Mail. Supports encryption/decryption, generation/verification of signatures, addition of public keys to keyring.

    SafeMail 2.0 beta5

    • Author: Highware, Inc.
    • Category: Email client
    • Platform: MacOS
    • For use with: PGP 2.x/5.x/6.x
    • License: Commercial
    • Homepage: http://www.highware.com/main-sm.html
    • Description: OpenPGP compatible email client.

    Stealth 1.1

    • Author: Henry Hastur
    • Category: Tool
    • Platform: Unix / MS-DOS
    • For use with: PGP 2.x/5.x/6.x
    • Filename: stealth.zip
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.unicorn.com/pgp/s-readme.html
    • Description: Stealth is a simple filter for PGP which strips off all identifying header information to leave only the encrypted data in a format suitable for steganographic use.

    WPGP 1.6

    • Author: Jack Gostl
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: wpgp160.zip
    • License: Shareware ($40)
    • Homepage: http://www.panix.com/~jgostl/wpgp/
    • Description: A Windows/PGP integration tool with a point and click interface between Windows applications and PGP. With WPGP, simply click on a window; WPGP will extract the text from that window, process it through PGP, and place the result back in the window. Includes a drag & drop file encryption interface.

    WinPGP (16-bit) 4.1

    • Author: Chris Geib / Geib Enterprises Network
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: pgpw41.zip
    • License: Shareware
    • Homepage: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/home pages/CGeib/
    • Description: Allows you to access the features of PGP while remaining in Windows. Also supports directory encryption and has good key managment features.

    WinPGP (32-bit) 5.0

    • Author: Chris Geib / Geib Enterprises Network
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Windows 95/98/NT
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • Filename: winpgp5a.zip
    • License: Shareware
    • Homepage: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/home pages/CGeib/
    • Description: Allows you to access the features of PGP while remaining in Windows. Also supports directory encryption and has good key managment features.

    dirtypgp

    • Author: Carsten Meyer (carsten.meyer@home.gelsen-net.de)
    • Category: Shell
    • Platform: Unix
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://195.145.169.13/~cmeyer/dirtypgp
    • Description: PGP 2.6.3i shell for X11.

    elmpgp 2.4pl24

    pgp4pine

    • Author: Chris Wiegand (cwiegant@urgentmail.com)
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Unix
    • For use with: PGP 2.x/5.x
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.dimensional.com /~cwiegand/linux/pgp4pine.html
    • Description: PGP/GPG filter for pine, enabling you to manually and automatically decrypt and encrypt email messages.

    psMail 1.1

    • Author: Bill Cohee
    • Category: Email client
    • Platform: Windows 3.x
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://mville.edu:8000/~bcohee/psmail.ht ml
    • Description: psMail (Pretty Secure Mail) is an offline mail manager designed for people who wish to send/receive encrypted email through their online service or Internet access provider. psMail is composed of two seperate modules; an Inbox and a OutBox. psMail:InBox manages and decrypts email sent to you. psMail:OutBox manages and encrypts email that you are going to send.

    zmail PGP script

    • Author: Aldo Valente
    • Category: Email plugin
    • Platform: Unix
    • For use with: PGP 2.x
    • License: Freeware
    • Homepage: http://www.rhein.de/~aldo/zmail.html
    • Description: Script for integrating PGP with zmail.

    --
    peterrenshaw ~ Another Scrappy Startup
    1. Re:here's a few by Utter · · Score: 1

      This message is moderated up to two? Posting a link would have been soo much better.

    2. Re:here's a few by gravious · · Score: 1

      a few would imply three.

      your subject should have been "here's a deluge"

      as someone else noted POST THE URL AND DON'T WASTE MY TIME AND BANDWIDTH !!

      if i just had some moderator points now, grrr

      -Anthony

      --

      Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas.
    3. Re:here's a few by Plasmic · · Score: 1

      It makes you wonder if there should be a limit to the length of comments? I'd say that's exceptionally mild.

      It makes me know in my heart of hearts (not to mention my ever-loving soul), that no one ought to be afforded the right to post such a long, freaky message.

    4. Re:here's a few by ftobin · · Score: 1

      Hrm, you missed an important one for Pine:
      pgpenvelope

      http://www.neverending.org/~ftobi n/resources.html

      PGPenvelope is a Pine filter written in Perl that allows one to use encrypt/sign/decrypt/verify
      one's email messages with GPG or PGP5.
      Ease of installation, ease of use,
      and a nice interface were the primary goals during developement.
      Also included are methods to verify signed messages through procmail with ease.

    5. Re:here's a few by ftobin · · Score: 1
  28. Re:I'll get crap for this... by tlewis · · Score: 1

    Linux people should really pay attention to Outlook
    and all of the cool stuff that Microsoft does in
    it. With the possible exception of GNUS, Outlook
    is the best email client on the planet. Sure, it
    has its faults, but if you subscribe to the "my inbox
    contains everything in my whole life" school of life
    management, then Outlook is about the best there is.
    Now, it's far from worth justifying Windows, which
    is why I sue the mighty pine, but everyone should at least
    give it a shot and see what neat stuff they have.

  29. Re:Well... by PG13 · · Score: 1

    Fortunately the part about one-way algorithms is very important. It is absurd even with astounding advances in computing power to do a brute force search of 160 bits. Thus the question becomes how secure is your hash function.

    Secure hash functions are a VERY important topic but the fact that you only have 160 bits is irrelevant.

    --
    Marriage is the "pseudo-ethics" that cloaks the messy truth of sexuality in the raiment of propriety -- it's "Don't Ask,
  30. You must not have looked very hard... :) by Nugget94M · · Score: 1

    http://www.mutt.org/doc/manual/ma nual-6.html#move

    move
    Type: quadoption
    Default: ask-no
    Controls whether you will be asked to confirm moving read messages from your spool mailbox to your $mbox mailbox, or as a result of a mbox-hook command.

    "set move=no" will do exactly what you want.

  31. If you don't like the mappings, fix them... by Nugget94M · · Score: 2

    You don't even need to delve into the source. Here is a sample muttrc which will redefine all the key bindings to their pine equivalents.

  32. You simply cannot beat mutt by Nugget94M · · Score: 3

    Insofar as unix is concerned, you simply cannot beat mutt ( http://www.mutt.org/) for a pgp-aware mailer.

    If you're currently using either pine or elm, you're doing yourself a serious disservice not looking at mutt. It's easier, more flexible, and more powerful than any of the alternatives.

    PGP support is top-notch and native, for both v2 and v5 pgp. Highly recommended.

    1. Re:You simply cannot beat mutt by Sesse · · Score: 1

      It's easier, more flexible

      Definitely more flexible! Show me a thing you can't configure in mutt! :-)

      (And you can even set up macros, so it will output old-style PGP attachments for braindead `software' such as MS Outlook.)

      /* Steinar */

      --
      (This comment is of course GPLed.)
    2. Re:You simply cannot beat mutt by itp · · Score: 1

      Both mutt and exmh are built on the MH (or nmh) mailkits.

      You're mistaken. Mutt isn't built upon anything but mutt.

      --
      Ian Peters

    3. Re:You simply cannot beat mutt by itp · · Score: 1

      I won't try to convert you (I know that a mailer is a very personal choice), but I should point out that all of the key-bindings are completely configurable in mutt, so if you think "n" is a better choice, you can make it so. And mutt does have a scroll down feature.

      --
      Ian Peters

    4. Re:You simply cannot beat mutt by CrazyFraggle · · Score: 1
      Or what about exmh? Both mutt and exmh are built on the MH (or nmh) mailkits. They will follow many of the same configurations. Only problem with exmh is that it's Tcl/Tk, and therefore somewhat hopelessly slow if you're running it on a remote computer.

      On exmh's website there is information on what patches you need to get exmh up and running with PGP or GPG.

      --
      - the Crazy Fraggle
    5. Re:You simply cannot beat mutt by CrazyFraggle · · Score: 1

      OK. My mistake. I once asked for a textmode mail client that supported MH folders, and was referred to mutt. I therefore assumed it was MH based.

      --
      - the Crazy Fraggle
    6. Re:You simply cannot beat mutt by ftobin · · Score: 1

      Sure, mutt is a great mailer, but it is lacking one very, very important thing that pine handles. News. I need news and mail together. I need to be able to apply the same filters to both. Plus, I've got a great filter for Pine that lets me handle PGP flawlessly. PGPenvelope

    7. Re:You simply cannot beat mutt by ftobin · · Score: 1

      Erm, whoops, seems like my nameservers are down. Try this URL for pgpenvelope instead:
      http://www.bigfoot.com/~ftobin/resour ces.html

  33. Re:Q: Is any secure POP-software out there? by TeddyR · · Score: 1

    Use SSH and port forwarding.

    fetchmail has an easier way to do it automatically using SSH port forwarding (I have not yet found a seamless implemention)..

    There is an implementation of SSL/IMAP, but both clients and server have to follow it.

    Note: Same thing with
    POP3

    and you may want to use SSH port forwarding with NNTP. (which is also in the clear...)

    The problem w/ SSH port forwarding is that the server also needs to support SSHD (but if you have control over both machines)....

    https://www.mav.net/teddyr/syousif/

    --

    --
    Time is on my side
  34. "Pine" is easier to type by cout · · Score: 1

    "mutt" has two t's, which means a short delay there.

    In addition, is is difficult to type "mu" without using just one finger.

    "pine" on the other hand, can be typed with four fingers (one for each letter), and so can be typed much faster and more easily. That alone makes pine my mailer of choice.

    And no, editing my .cshrc file to alias pine to mutt is a ridiculous option. And besides, who wants to use a mailer not named after a tree?

  35. PGP and IMAP by cout · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately, The Bat's IMAP support is clunky at best.

    Does anyone know of a good mail client that supports both IMAP and PGP? Most clients support one or the other.

    And Outlook is not an option.

    1. Re:PGP and IMAP by Chris+Hiner · · Score: 1

      Myself, I like Pegasus. It supports IMAP, and with plugins, supports PGP. QDPGP is one of several plugins that add PGP support. It adds signing/encrypting/decrypting/key management abilities to Pegasus.
      Pegasus has nifty mail filtering abilities also.

      http://www.pegasus.usa.com/ is the main US site.

  36. Zero Knowledge by robbo · · Score: 1

    zeroknowledge.com has a beta client out that supports encryption and anonymous remailing. These guys tend to get quoted in wired frequently when privacy issues come up.

    --
    So long, and thanks for all the Phish
  37. Goof by robbo · · Score: 1

    Try zeroknowledge.com again.

    --
    So long, and thanks for all the Phish
    1. Re:Goof by xoddam · · Score: 1

      Isn't it
      So long, and thanks for all the ghoti?

      (couGH, wOmen, moTIon)

  38. Ishmail has PGP Support! by papason · · Score: 1

    With the question in mind, I use Ishmail as it
    has a GUI front-end and supports PGP, as well
    as well as working with IMAP, POP, and local mail servers, I really like the Automatic filing.
    Check it out at http://www.ishmail.com
    WDM

  39. As a Windows Mail Program... by aclark · · Score: 1

    ... PMMail can not be beat in my opinion. It doesn't get much press but it handles PGP 2.x and [56].x very well. It's fast and very reliable.

    --
    Ashley Clark
    1. Re:As a Windows Mail Program... by Atomic+Frog · · Score: 1

      Yes, I concur, there's no better mail program for Windows (I've tried Eudora. Yuck!). But what's even better is PMMail/2 for OS/2, of course!

  40. Re:Can I fake email in mutt? by Sesse · · Score: 1

    Come on, almost ANY old mailer can fake mails!

    /* Steinar */

    --
    (This comment is of course GPLed.)
  41. Cool Winblows Mailer Program by tomblackwell · · Score: 1

    Not only does The Bat support PGP in its latest version, but it is an all-around cool email program. It's very configurable and new enhancements are being added frequently. It's at www.ritlabs.com.

  42. Re:Well... by Sontas · · Score: 1

    This is the notion that Winnow and Chaffing (sorry is the spelling is wrong) operates. It isn't a new idea, but application to today's network systems was recently (within the last year?) brought up by the R and S in RSA (Rivest and the other name I forget... Shamir?). The idea is simply to flood any given packetized connection with false signatured/authenticated garbage. The packets that are good are also signed/authenticated but they actually will check out correctly when the signature is checked. Depending on how small the packets are different methods of creating the "chaff" packets can be effectively utilized in this scheme. In this method corrent information can travel somewhat securely in the clear among "noise."

  43. Re:Can I fake email in mutt? by Andreas+Bombe · · Score: 1

    If you mean changing the From: header, mutt allows this.

  44. Outlook & PGP by Amadeus · · Score: 2

    Around here, my friend with windows use Outlook and
    PGP, and I use exmh and GnuPG, and they interoperate
    great!

    --
    -Nick
  45. Re:Don't forget GPG aka GnuPG aka GNU Privacy Guar by Hamhead · · Score: 1

    Technically speaking, I have to wholeheartedly agree that PGP is superior to PGP in just about every way. Unfortunately, there is one mighty drawback:

    It's not reverse compatible with the old pgp 2.62 keysets out there. That sucks.

    (also the fact that /usr/local/bin/gpg is setuid root, but that's minor)

    Here's what it looked like when I tried to import my pgp 2.6.2 key. (id 'xxx'ed to protect the innocent)

    gpg (GnuPG) 0.9.8; Copyright (C) 1999 Free
    Software Foundation, Inc.
    This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NOWARRANTY.
    This is free software, and you are welcome to
    redistribute it under certain conditions. See
    the file COPYING for details.

    gpg: key xxx: unsupported public key algorithm
    gpg: key xxxx: no valid user ids
    gpg: this may be caused by a missing
    self-signature
    gpg: Total number processed: 1
    gpg: w/o user IDs: 1
    --
    -- If you met me, you probably wouldn't remember me. I'm pretty hard to remember.
  46. Re:pgp 2.6 keys in GPG by Hamhead · · Score: 1

    The key I have is in fact self signed, it's just that GPG didn't recognize the format, and did a guess that it wasn't self-signed.. :)

    I guess that could be considered an unstable failure mode.

    --
    -- If you met me, you probably wouldn't remember me. I'm pretty hard to remember.
  47. SSL imap server by DarkClown · · Score: 1

    Is there a non-commercial imap server that supports ssl?

    1. Re:SSL imap server by DarkClown · · Score: 1

      Cool, thanks. I went and got stunnel and SSLeay and have been having trouble getting it to work, but this seems like what I want. My client can't connect to the server after I killall -HUP inetd and tell messenger to use ssl. There are keys on the server and client.. Any idea why that would happen?

  48. Re:Well... by LabRat · · Score: 1

    Hate to point out the obvious...but I believe that the message you replied to was a sarcastic farse. You need to lighten up a bit there bud.

  49. Re:Netscape Conspiciously Absent by Cato · · Score: 1

    I agree - in the meantime, there is good shareware for PGP email integration on Windows called Mollusc, which supports Netscape and almost every Windows emailer and the author can very rapidly support off-beat email programs.

    I used to use this quite a lot when I was using PGP on Windows. For attachments, the simplest thing is just to encrypt the file using PGP of course.

  50. Re:Anybody knows if PGP is available for the Palm? by Cato · · Score: 1

    A quick search on Google.com revealed the following beta done in Norway, so it is usable worldwide - not sure if it is just a library but it should be usable by mail program developers.

    http://www.pasta.cs.uit.no/~perm/PASTA/pilot/

    There was also mention of some work done in US/Canada, for those who live there, in

    http://www.imc.org/ietf-open-pgp/mail-archive/ms g01874.html

  51. PGP Links by johnd · · Score: 2

    Have a look at the international PGP home page. Good links here to the standard PGP packages for most platforms. Freshmeat is a good source for Linux specific things.

  52. Re:glad he did it by benbean · · Score: 1

    20,000 people downloading that commment at once would Slashdot Slashdot, dumb-ass.

    --
    It's a Unix system - I know this.
  53. S/Mime by Elessar · · Score: 1

    In my view S/MIME is a superior protocol for encrypting email than PGP. It is supported by the major mail clients (e.g. Netscape's Messenger), and I believe is easier to use. Its main disadvantage is that its support among "free" mail clients appears to be non-existent...

    1. Re:S/Mime by 12dec0de · · Score: 1

      In theory using S/MIME is not only superior in protocol, but also in user-friendliness because you can buy identification from TC TrustCenter, Thawte or Verisign.

      But it is only usable in export controlled MUAs
      and there is no secure messaging due to limited key length. Now you could use fortify...

      As to free support, somebody should sit down and use the OpenSSL tools to write some plug-in for mut, pine or elm. The base is there.

  54. Technological marvels by Rozzin · · Score: 1

    Perhaps for the same reason that MS Excel 97 `cannot open two documents with the same name, even if the documents are in different folders', eh?

    --
    -rozzin.
  55. Text-editor features by Rozzin · · Score: 1

    Does outlook have a search-and-replace function?

    --
    -rozzin.
  56. Re:Moderation by Neil+Rubin · · Score: 1

    I didn't perform the moderation you mention, but I suspect that it was done because the poster had made the exact same post twice. (by accident, I'm sure) You can't get much more redundant than that! The other post was (as of the time I write this) moderated up to a score of 2. That looks like quite appropriate moderation to me.

  57. hmmm...SARCASM! by Natedog · · Score: 1

    read the subject

    --
    \forall code \in C, \frac{\Delta readability(code)}{\Delta t} < 0
  58. I've wondered about this law by Natedog · · Score: 1

    What if the API in question wasn't for encryption, but rather a generic API that any number different plugins could work with (including encryption). I don't know, say for example, a plugin that just took 64 bits and XORed it with 45 or something (by no means strong encryption). Sure its worthless, but it should alow someone to write a plugin that used DES or some other strong encryption right? Just call it generic data transformation or something (GDT) - just an idea, has it ever been tried?

    --
    \forall code \in C, \frac{\Delta readability(code)}{\Delta t} < 0
  59. The net has moved backwards from the first days by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    Ahhh, I can reminice about the old days.....
    Email was a simple client where you can scrub the messages through a nice encryptor (Simple double Xor encryption with phrases) that couldnt be cracked easily by a cracker or punk kid. Usenet postings that were offensive were rot13'd and all was joyous.

    What about the fact that ALL news readers and IRC clients no longer have a rot13 function?? if everyone used it then the bitching by us old-timers and the paranoid public would be minimal I.E. no chance of a child accidently seeing c00l D00d's latest flame where he tried out the new word F*** every 3 words. You would have to deliberately rot13 it ro read it. encryptors were easy to impliment... pine-- Ahhh a message from my russian commander -- save it as ascii and decrypt. to send? text->encryptor->mail ruskie@ussr.ru but then that was back in the dark ages.... before Point and drool...
    (NOTE: I like to point and drool, I use NT for silly things) on the Linux/unix/BSD side the encryption interface is trivial... it's the intentional Abstraction of winblows that was in place to keep you from doing things like encrypting your mail or adding features to software that dont exist yet. (It still can be done.. cut and paste your text, run the win interface to PGP, bla bla bla.... easy as pie :-)

    Now if Eudora wanted to rise from the ashes... make a Unix,solaris,linux,Windows,mac,BE,etc... version with a pgp interface built in.... but it wont happen...

    Eough of my drivel... where's my old-farts walker..

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:The net has moved backwards from the first days by griffjon · · Score: 1

      WinVN, a pretty low-power newsreader, has ROT13 and is freely available. No killfile, last I checked, tho.

      Also, I believe tin has ROT13, but I've never been a fan of textmode newsreading, for whatever reason.

      --
      Returned Peace Corps IT Volunteer
  60. Re:Well... by Bigman · · Score: 1

    I think the point was that if we use crypto on ALL our mail then the nosey bastards monitoring our mail will be kept busy decoding messages about fridays pub-night until they get bored with the whole endevour. If people are going to snoop lets make it as painful as possible...

    Hack the system!!!! (lol)

    --
    *--BigMan--- Time flies like an arrow.. but personally I prefer a nice glass of wine!
  61. Re:Well... by Bricius · · Score: 2
    • If I was a goverment agent in charge of snooping through email don't you think that I would have a scanner similar to a virus detector looking for encrypted messages?

    That's exactly the reason why we all should use encryption for _all_ of our messages.
  62. Anybody knows if PGP is available for the Palm? by Guru+Meditation · · Score: 1

    I sync my mail with my Palm, so that I can play^H^H^H^Hwork a bit while commuting. Using encryption limits working with encrypted mails till I reach my desktop.

    Does anybody know of a Palm version? I'd settle for just being able to *read*

    ----------
    'We have no choice in what we are. Yet what are we,
    but the sum of our choices.' --Rob Grant
    ----------

    --
    'We have no choice in what we are. Yet what are we,
    but the sum of our choices.' --Rob Grant
  63. I'll get crap for this... by Graymalkin · · Score: 1

    But in Windows i use Outlook 98 for e-mail. It has support for PGP...which I have found is the easiest way to share crypto stuff. PGP integrates rather well in my experience...if you DO use Outlook it's a nice way to keep big brother from reading your plans to kill people or whatever scheme they say everyone is now planning through e-mail.

    --
    I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
    1. Re:I'll get crap for this... by Dantelope · · Score: 1

      Outlook 2000 is incompatible with PGP 6 in that, when sending mail to someone, they will be unable to read even a SIGNED message (doesn't even have to be encrypted) sent to them if they use Outlook Express to read email.

      I really fail to understand the technological reason for this, but I'm sure the real answer has something to do with Microsoft sucking big time. :)

      --Dantelope

      --
      Smokers /#, Managers /$, Developers /.
  64. mutt by Mental+Erosion · · Score: 1

    Mutt not only seamlessly interacts with PGP, but also with the GNU Privacy Guard (GPG). Mutt is absolutely fantastic as MUA. If you're really crazy, you can use it under windows by compiling it with cygwin/slang.

  65. Bandwidth is not necessarily free by Roy+Ward · · Score: 1

    > Bandwidth is free, even at 56k.

    Not necessarily. It's free for most people, particulary (I imagine) for people in North America and Europe, but people in other parts of the world don't always have as many options.

    The only reason that I'm bothering to write this reply is that the 'bandwidth is free' needs to be challenged. I know of too many people on limited bandwith that keep getting sent things like large attachments because of that assumption.

    A month ago, I was paying NZ$3/hour access for 28k - hardly free bandwidth, and the university department where I work gets charged something like NZ$1/Mb.

    Roy Ward.

  66. Enigma by damm0 · · Score: 1
    http://enigma.intouch.ca

    Some of you might be interested in a project called Enigma. It is open source, written entirely in Java, and works with just about any e-mail package. Enigma works by being a proxy server decrypting all e-mail and intelligently encrypting e-mail according to who is on your keyring.

  67. Problems by damm0 · · Score: 1
    There are a few small problems:
    • Encrypting something more than once doesn't really make it more secure.
    • Your own algorithm is probably not as strong as XOR, let alone DES.
    • MPEG is lossy
    • Security guards are not reliable information conduits
    • It isn't e-mail.
  68. Sounds like XPK by Sloppy · · Score: 1

    That's basically what happened with the Amiga's XPK interface. It was originally intended as a general-purpose interface for compression routines. But over time it got to be rather widely used for crypto too. It's really just a general-purpose data-munging API.

    --
    As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
  69. Re:Encryption incompatible with antivirus sweepers by Sloppy · · Score: 1

    Makes you wonder whether the antiencryption spooks are behind the mail viruses, doesn't it?

    Well, actually, it looks more like clueless admins rather than spooks, but I guess you never know. They are virus-scanning at the wrong point.

    --
    As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
  70. Re:Well... by Bartmoss · · Score: 1

    I would say that entirely depends on what country you're in. Man, why do I even bother to reply to this? ;-)

  71. PGP For Windows (was Re:PGP4Pine) by Grail · · Score: 1

    Well... if you use PGP for Windows or Macintosh, you get this nifty menu that allows you to encrypt/sign or decrypt/verify any selected text.

    This setup won't work with PGP/MIME, (multipart/encrypted), but it will work with inline stuff (you know, the messages that start with "START PGP SIGNED MESSAGE" or whatever it is).

  72. cluebie-freindly windows pgp options... by complex · · Score: 2

    if someone is green to pgp than by far the easiest and most foolproof way to get them up and running is via pgp's native mail client plugins for outlook, outlook express, and eudora.

    my suggestion is eudora light 3.0.6, at www.eudora.com. intutitive interface (remember netscape mail three ugly panes from hell? phooey.) and simple.

    then stop by www.pgpi.com to pick up your preferred pgp version. 6.0.2 freeware works fine for people in the us. you'll want 6.0.2i (the international version) if you want backward compatibility, though. the great 'client selection wizard' will get most people through.

    once you get these two programs up and running exchanging encrypted e-mails is a snap. just click 'encrypt/decrypt' (or sign, or whatever) right in eudora.

    good luck. i've always believed that as more and more people use pgp, the 'digital worth' of each pgp-encrypted message increases. please help as many people as possible to download, use, and support pgp. it helps us all.

    www.pgpi.com
    www.pgp.net
    wwwkeys.pgp.net

  73. PGP by thb3 · · Score: 1

    Network Associates PGP 6.0.2 integrates with Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Netscape Mail, and Eudora Mail clients. You can download it free from their webpage. This is for Windows only though, I'm not sure about Unix or the mac platform.

    --
    I can only please one person a day. Today is not your day, and tomorrow does not look good either.
  74. Best Crypro link page by Delta-9 · · Score: 1

    The link below will take you to what I believe to be the most extensive webpage on Encryption and Security. From free win based ssh clients to information about the Australian NSA.

    Here it is!

  75. Re:Pluggable encryption export control & Java by jmercay · · Score: 1

    It seems to me that exactly what Sun is doing with Java2 and JCE.
    A set of abstract classes, useless until you bought the corresponding "real" classes, from Sun is the US, or elsewhere (IAIK here in Europe).

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but what's different from pluggable encryption in a MUA ?

  76. Re:Well... by MindStalker · · Score: 2

    What?? having 2 or more 160bit keyID/fingerprint?

    160 bits means approx
    146000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0
    possible.

  77. Re:Well... by beacon · · Score: 1

    exactly; and we should encrypt the most mundane of our communications most of all, to *really* piss them off. if some agency has to use some really expensive cracking hardware and up-time to find out what time i'm meeting my girlfriend at the cinema tonight, i'm that little bit happier...

  78. Re:Moderation by artg · · Score: 1

    I'm the poster, and yes, I did post twice accidentally (/. threw an error), changing it slightly on the repost. And I moderated down someone else's duplicate the other day, so I'm not sore .. but thanks for the defence.

  79. Encryption incompatible with antivirus sweepers by artg · · Score: 2

    Another barrier to encryption is the use of virus sweepers; some sysadmins are now paranoid about mail viruses, and process all the mail through some filter that gives them a warm fuzzy feeling (and probably little else).

    These systems can't work with encrypted mail (obviously) .. as a result, we've just been asked to remove both encrypters and decrypters from our systems.

    Makes you wonder whether the antiencryption spooks are behind the mail viruses, doesn't it ?

  80. No you can't. by @madeus · · Score: 1
    Unfortunately the current version of mutt does not allow you to 'fake' e-mail. It only allows you to send 'real' e-mail. I sincerly hope the developers will consider add this feature in the future. Pretending to send e-mail is sure fun. If had a real computer instead of this card board box with screen dump of a VMS session taped to it, I'd send real e-mail.

    PS: If you really feel the need to send a 'fake' e-mail, you can do it the hardcore way, if your up to it... ( warning: only for the truly 3lit3) Okay, here it is, all you need to do is address a postcard to root@127.0.0.1 and drop it into the mail box. Works every time. Sounds simple doesn't it? It's really difficult to trace too!

    Hey, have you ever gotten any bounced messages doing this? ;-p

  81. Re:You're not the only one... by SpiderMonkey · · Score: 1

    And sometimes it's just the opposite! Consider the DOS utility pkunzip. *Five* of seven letters typed with the left index finger! what a pain.

    --
    --- Who? What? Huh? What? ---
  82. Re:Outlook &amp; PGP by PigleT · · Score: 1

    FWIW I used to have problems with MS Outlook and the PGP for Windows from www.pgpi.com. Every so often a mail would come through and trying to open it would cause a GPF in outlook as the plugin DLL died, dunno why. It was not fun having auto-preview enabled, as this also involved 'opening' the mail!

    This was outlook in the days of IE4 and PGP5.5 - might be different now, but be on your guard :)


    ~Tim

    ~Tim
    --

    --
    ~Tim
    --
    .|` Clouds cross the black moonlight,
    Rushing on down to the circle of the turn
  83. PGP-aware SMTP/POP3/IMAP4 proxy? by DanceBee · · Score: 1

    Rather than dealing with the problems of hacking encryption into MUAs, why not create a PGP encrypting/decrypting proxy that would work seamlessly with any MUA?

    1. Re:PGP-aware SMTP/POP3/IMAP4 proxy? by DanceBee · · Score: 1

      I assume you mean a proxy that will run on your same machine, and not on the network;
      otherwise, you're transmitting cleartext on the wires.


      Yes, you run the proxy locally. You configure your MUA to use localhost as both SMTP server and POP3 server, you run the proxy app on your client machine and point it to your real SMTP & POP3 servers. Maybe you put a flag such as "(PGP)" in the subject field to tell the SMTP proxy to do a PGP encrypt on a specific message. This allows for end-to-end security from the sender's client machine to the receiver's client machine, and doesn't depend on any SMTP encryption extensions, or require that you have administrative access to your mail server machine.

  84. Re:Could someone explain PGP/Encryption in mail? by CabanaBoy · · Score: 1

    Check out the Modern Cryptography FAQ on RSA's web site:

    http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/faq/

    It has all the answers you need.

  85. RSA Keys for PGP by CardinaI · · Score: 1

    How do you get one of those shiny silver RSA keys for pgp?

    *****
    Knoweldge is power. Knowing is half the battle. Why do we still clout kid's views with that crap?

    --

    *****
    Knoweldge is power. Knowing is half the battle. Why do we still clout kid's views with that crap?
  86. Re:Web-based encrypted mail by CardinaI · · Score: 1

    FYI: Hushmail only lets you send encrypted mail to other hushmail users.

    *****
    Knoweldge is power. Knowing is half the battle. Why do we still clout kid's views with that crap?

    --

    *****
    Knoweldge is power. Knowing is half the battle. Why do we still clout kid's views with that crap?
  87. 128 bit S/Mime outside the US by kill-1 · · Score: 1

    Check out fortify.net

  88. PGP by dannemo · · Score: 1

    http://www.paladincorp.com.au has some really informative info and links to PGP issues.

  89. still not enough by firewood · · Score: 1

    This still isn't enough for secure email to be ubiquitously usable. What do you if your recipient receives email on a PalmPilot, WinCE handheld or WebTV? How 'bout if you're accessing your email on a web browser based account (maybe on a vacation without your laptop) and someone sends you pgp'd email?

  90. What About Public Key Deposite Servers? by Hobbex · · Score: 1

    From reading the protocols bit in Applied Cryptography I got the feeling that all public key systems relied on good and trusted servers for distributing public keys. How do the current systems handle public key management?

    Is that not the real area where the land of the free (and the home of the brave) is screwing us over?

    1. Re:What About Public Key Deposite Servers? by Winged · · Score: 1

      Ah, public key management. The bane of public key cryptosystems.

      First, some definitions to make my words have more meaning:

      Alice, Bob, Carol, David, Elaine, Frank: Persons A through F in a public key cryptosystem world. Assume that all of them have at least one public/private key pair, and that they know not to give out their public keys. Also assume (unless told otherwise) that they are trying to play fair.

      Eve: An 'eavesdropper', one who listens to the message traffic, but who can't alter it for any reason. This person is a snoop, just wanting to get information that isn't supposed to be accessible.

      Mallory: A 'malicious' user of the system, someone who actively tries to break the system for whatever purpose. He is assumed to be all-powerful (able to change contents of files on public networks, alter bit traffic on networks, and so on), but not all-knowing (he doesn't know the users' secret or private keys).

      Trent: A 'trusted authority' who acts like a notary public for the keys the users are using.

      Secret key: Used in symmetric cryptosystems, both parties must have this key to encrypt or decrypt.

      Private key: One half of a public/private key pair, the half that should NEVER be made common knowledge.

      Public key: One half of a public/private key pair, the half that should be made common knowledge so that people can check your signatures, decrypt messages from you, etc.

      Certificate: A 'signed statement', like Trent's notarization, saying that a given public key belongs to who it says it does.

      And that should do it for the definitions. Now, onto the public key management systems:

      There are three different ways that public keys management can be handled.

      1) Each user can have a copy of the entire public key database, synchronized with a global center every once in a while.
      2) Each user can retrieve keys as necessary from a server.
      3) Each user can build his/her own database independently.

      For #1, we need to look at the lesson learned in the beginning of the Internet, with the HOSTS.TXT file. This would soon overwhelm the network, so they created DNS.

      For #2, it's cool, except how do we know that Mallory hasn't changed the keys in the server?

      For #3, we can't know that in receiving the public key, Mallory hasn't changed it along the way.

      So, we come up with a new idea: Public Key Trust Management. There's a couple ways of doing this:

      #1: Everyone has to trust a Trent.

      #2: There is no Trent; Alice trusts Bob to introduce David, but doesn't trust Carol to introduce David (Alice doesn't think that Carol knows the reasons behind key signatures, and thus does them blindly).

      Number 1 is currently used by Verisign and Thawte, embedding their root certificates into the web browsers that everyone uses. These certificates are used to verify the ultimate validity of any public key received.

      Number 2 is used by PGP, letting each individual user choose whether and how much to trust any key in the system. (Remember, a key does not come from a user just because it -says- it does.)

      Let's use an example: We have a system that requires that Trent be the creator of all certificates that are trusted. (i.e., SSL.) Trent signs the certificates of Alice, Bob, and Carol, after due proof of identity. Frank, not knowing any of them, can obtain their keys and certificates, and since he trusts Trent as well, can trust them.

      Let's use an alternate example: We have a system that requires that the user choose who to trust out of all the keys that he has. Alice, Bob, and Carol all know each other and trust each other, for good reason -- they know what's going on. For a new user, like David, he doesn't know who to trust... so he simply signs everything that comes in, and blindly trusts it. One of these keys says it's from Alice, and David needs to talk to Alice, so he uses it. Unfortunately, it's from Mallory, who's trying to understand what it is that Alice and David are talking about. Mallory just goes through and replaces the keys that each user sees on the network for each other, and neither of them are the wiser.

      (Yes, these explanations are simplified. I didn't have time or energy to write out the full description of both.)

      Both approaches have their downfalls (what if Mallory compromises Trent? What if Mallory compromises the network in the second example?). My personal point of view is kind of like Thawte's... there's room in the PGP Web of Trust for both CAs (Trents) and individuals. In fact, Thawte just announced, a month or two ago, that they were going to provide relatively limited access to their CAs through a 'web of trust' model.

      So, trust a CA, but also trust your friends. I like Thawte better than Verisign. :)

      -Winged

  91. Re:PGP by _Sprocket_ · · Score: 1

    There are, in fact, clients for all three OS'. I've not tried the others, but the Windows integration (with Outlook, at least) is very smooth.

  92. Re:Outlook &amp; PGP by glyciren · · Score: 1
    everyone i know also uses Outlook Express. It seems to me that if we intend to bring PGP or other encryption to the masses, OE is the avenue to take. i am very interested in adding PGP capability to Outlook Express, if someone could send me info about what plugins i need and how to use them/install them, it would be greatly appreciated. please contact me at glyciren@chorus.net if you can help me.

    Glyciren

    --

    Glyciren
    "Well that didn't work... try this jumper instead.. oops."

  93. Graphical Linux Client w/PGP by drdestructo · · Score: 1

    I am looking for a pretty GUI Mail client w/pgp abilitys. I am successfully converting all of my company to Linux. I am also looking to implement a secure/signed email policy. It's gotta be pretty for the simple folk. Thanks.

  94. Encrypt outgoing mail via Exim? by smaugy · · Score: 1

    I currently use Exim as my MTA (and don't wish to change). Using the
    transport_filter feature, would it be possible to automatically PGP encrypt
    outgoing mail (only for a single recipient)?

    Unfortunately, I'm useless with shell/Perl scripting, so is there anyone out
    there who has already implemented this kind of thing? Any example code or relevant URLs would be *extremely* useful.

  95. One small suggestion by Mr.+Punch · · Score: 1

    Zip disks are too ubiquotous. Use a magneto-optical disk. Security through obscure media.

  96. Netscape Conspiciously Absent by hbo · · Score: 2

    Netscape doesn't support PGP encryption. There's been a lot of discussion over at the mozilla crypto newsgroup on the hows and whys. Basically, AOL/Netscape's interpretation of the stupid US cryptography export regulations prevents them from even exposing their API for cryptographic processing. Some folks at NAI volunteered to help out, which elicited some favorable noises on the part of Mozilla, but no visible action. They may be working on it behind the scenes however.

    Netscape Messenger owns a huge share of the Internet email client market. The lack of PGP support is a substantial impediment to the widespread adoption of PGP as a standard for Windows email. I'm not too fond of NAI, but I'd like to see this particular product succeed, since it's in such widespread use on Unix.
    --

    "Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there" - Will Rogers

  97. Could M$ be innovating? by konstant · · Score: 1

    Yup. I'm a little biased of course because I test MS Outlook crypto, but I'd honestly have to say that Outlook2000 SR2 will be the uncontested champion among secure mail clients, at least for a while. Why?

    *Standards based* - that's right, O2k SR2 will be the first and only mail client *in the world* to implement the SMIME v3 protocols. This gives you features like secure labels and secure receipts, as well as full support for the standard-specified algorithms and other cools stuff like FIPS mode. (see http://search.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf- smime-ess-12.txt for the coolest stuff) And I swear it really is exactly implemented, no extensions!

    *Autoconfiguration* - Don't know what the feature's going to be called when it goes out the door, but autoconfig rocks. Essentially, it instantly eliminates the hassle of selecting and administering your certificates. You just get a cert, click Sign or Encrypt on the mail, and Outlook does everything else. It will also repair your security profiles if a cert expires. Of course you can still go in and do all this yourself, but autoconfig is so cool, many people never will.

    *Performance* - O2k is without contest in its speed and memory footprint. I know this will be greeted with skepticism due to O98, but just try it - you'll see why the perf numbers trash Quaalcom and Lotus.

    *Stability* - well, I tested it. Nuff said :)

    Now as for PGP, hmm. I guess I personally haven't been testing that and I'm upset that it seems to screw up your systems. I'll DL it tomorrow and see whether I can get those preview bugs fixed.

    -konstant

    --
    -konstant
    Yes! We are all individuals! I'm not!
  98. GPG rules by overlrd · · Score: 1

    gpg is so much better then pgp

    --
    -overlord
  99. Re:"Pine" is easier to type- Switch to dvorak by bugg · · Score: 1

    Don't assume everyone is using a qwerty keyboard.
    Although I use qwerty at work and for work-related things at home, I'm also increasing my profiency with dvorak every day. Don't change your program so it is faster to type, change the layout.

    --
    -bugg
  100. Re:Outlook &amp; PGP by irq_conflict · · Score: 1

    -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
    Hash: SHA1

    Hmm, well I still use Windoze for most of my day to day email stuff
    and, I also find the PGP+Outlook'98 combination very usable.

    Two gripes: if you use the auto preview in combination with decrypt-on
    open then the preview re-saves the decrypted email which can be
    irritating.

    Also PGP DOES NOT work with Outlook Express 5.0
    ( ie. the one that comes with IE 5.0 )

    Anyone using Outlook 2000? I daren't yet I don't
    have the RAM or DISK. Outlook'98 is bloated enough

    irq_conflict


    -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
    Version: PGP 6.0

    iQA/AwUBN4CLT+3AgzeWcyyiEQIl0QCfQnLPvlTFuyHknTIo cAMxDU6Mk8UAn3mF
    u9AbAZ2/+NvMxTIZaK/Gh7xy
    =gZq7
    -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

    --
    Barry Wimlett at endless dot co dot uk
  101. Simplicity by virago81 · · Score: 1

    I know this isn't glamorous or integrated, but an encryption program that does really well without the need for public keys is something called Crypt-o-Text, written by Rodney Savard (check him out at www.savard.com) It's basically a notepad that you cut and paste encrypted text to/from. Works for me.

    --
    Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards. -- Aldous Huxley
  102. XFMail by Mad77 · · Score: 1

    Among the others, you can also use the XFMail
    mail reader; it supports PGP 2.6, 5.0 and, with
    a patch (http://members.xoom.com/alberanid/patch-xfmail-gp g.tar.gz) GnuPG too.

  103. Re:Well... by gasp · · Score: 3

    I agree that everybody should use encryption all the time. The best analogy I've heard is to snail mail:

    Encryption is an envelope. I notice that almost all snail mail is sent in envelopes instead of postcards.

    I suspect that if most users inherently understood this analogy and the technology underneath, the desire for encryption would be much more widespread.