This is what I read on : PCworld with regards to PGP: PGP Freeware v6.5.8 Protect your e-mail messages from being intercepted and read by someone else This version also includes Self-Decrypting Archives (SDAs) which allow you to exchange information securely even with those who do not have PGP. I spent a lot of time trying to find out more about this sda feature but couldnt locate anything. Am I right in believing that I could send an encrypted email to someone who did not have PGP installed and they would be able to read it without problems ? (and this feature definetly works on v6.5.8?) Thanks!
Hi BB...... Javacool brought this PGP issue up in another thread and I'm so glad he did! I went and did a little research. I didn't know they were so close to a public beta. It looks fantastic! The beta is actually 8.0. Back, of course, to open-source and it includes PGP Mail, PGP Disk (yea!) and admin. I've been trying the beta and it has, so far, been rock solid. You can get it at: http://www.pgp.com/beta80.php Remember the beta expires December 6th. I have posted the basic features at the end of this post. It's exciting - PGP back in the hands of people who care about privacy instead of profit$$$$. INFO FOLLOWS. See 'Ya! John Luv2bSecure (Check out the Technical Advisory Board!): From the PGP Corporation Website PGP Corp Announces Formation of Technical Advisory Board Palo Alto, Calif. -- PGP Corporation, the recognized worldwide leader in secure messaging and data storage announced today that it has formed a Technical Advisory Board to advise its executive and engineering teams on products, architecture, technology, integration, and customer requirements. The board will consist of 10 individuals who will provide expertise and guidance in the areas of security, encryption, networking, and future technologies. The first four members of the board were also announced. They are: Carl Amdahl, Technology Partner, DCM—Doll Capital Management. Mr. Amdahl is a seasoned computer and networking industry executive who was a founder of three publicly traded companies: NetFRAME Systems, Trilogy Systems, Ltd., and Magnuson Systems, Inc. He is a Stanford Sloan Fellow and received a Master of Science in Management from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Crispin Cowan, Co-founder and Chief Scientist of WireX. Dr. Cowan conducts research focusing on making systems more secure without breaking compatibility or compromising performance. He has co-authored 34 refereed publications, including those describing the StackGuard compiler for defending against buffer overflow attacks. Dr. Cowan received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Western Ontario, a Master of Science in Mathematics, Computer Science, and a Bachelor of Mathematics, Co-op Honors, Computer Science from the University of Waterloo. Bruce Schneier, Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of Counterpane Internet Security, Inc. Mr. Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, cryptographer, and lecturer. He is the author of six books on network security, including “Secrets & Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World”, and “Applied Cryptography”, the seminal work in its field. He publishes a free email newsletter “Crypto-Gram” which has over 60,000 readers. Schneier has a Master of Science in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Rochester. Phil Zimmermann, founder of the original PGP, Inc. Mr. Zimmerman is known for his extensive work in cryptography and data security, data communications, and real-time embedded systems. He is the recipient of numerous awards and was named into the CRN Industry Hall of Fame, named one of InfoWorld’s Top 10 Innovators, and Time Magazine named Zimmermann one of the “Net 50”, the 50 most influential people on the Internet. He is a Fellow at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society. Zimmermann received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Florida Atlantic University. “We are extremely pleased to have such distinguished individuals with great technical prowess as well as business acumen willing to serve on our Technical Advisory Board,” said Jon Callas, CTO and CSO of PGP Corporation. “We are committed to technical innovation and this board will provide both a catalyst to great ideas and an outside perspective to keep us on track.” About PGP Corporation PGP Corporation, the recognized worldwide leader in secure messaging and data storage, builds products that allow corporations to ensure confidential customer and individual information remains secure. PGP Corporation combines a management team comprised of technology industry veterans and former PGP executives, developers, and patent holders with $14M of venture funding from DCM - Doll Capital Management and Venrock Associates, two highly respected venture capital firms. Over the last ten years, PGP technology has developed a global reputation for enabling open, trusted, and highly reliable security products. PGP has thousands of corporate/government users and millions of individual users worldwide, including many of the world’s largest and most security sensitive enterprises, government agencies, individuals, and cipher experts. [hr] About PGP 8.0 for Windows Beta Building on top of the solid PGP technology base, PGP 8.0 for Windows includes PGP Mail, PGP Disk and PGP Admin, offering numerous improvements as well as the following new features: Full Windows XP (including SP1) and Office XP compatibility Full server-side support for the Lotus Notes plug-in Support for Novell GroupWise 5.5. and 6.0 messaging client Significantly expanded Unicode support Directory integration with iPlanet Directory Server, Microsoft Active Directory and Novell NDS PGP Admin can now preconfigure automatic creation of PGP Disk volumes Enhanced Smart Card functionality including support for Aladdin eTokens Windows System Requirements Pentium 166 or greater processor Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition (ME), Windows NT 4.0 (Service Pack 6a), Windows 2000 (Service Pack 3), or Windows XP (Service Pack 1) 32 MB physical RAM 32 MB hard disk space
VERY IMPORTANT: The PGP 8.0 Public Beta will expire on Friday, December 6th, 2002. Once the expiration date has been reached, the software will disable itself completely, thereby inhibiting access to encrypted data. Please plan accordingly.
BB - sorry to be a bit slow, but here's the answer to your question about SDAs. Works in PGP8.0 beta, and looking at the old manual, should be OK with 6.5.8 Right click the file. go PGP, go create SDA. Pick and confirm a passphrase, let your correspondent know the passphrrase, and send the file. The catch, of course, is in letting the other party know the passpharse without compromising security. I would suggest phone, face to face or snailmail..... NOT EMAIL The other possible catch is that you end up with a file with a TRIPLE extension. (filename.doc.sda.exe) Some firewalls & A-Vs may go bonkers..... Depending on the other party's security arrangements, zipping may help.
