PGP software

Hi All,
I am just a newbie and want to know more about PGP software, can anyone point me to a right direction? Thanx
ThaySai

 

PGP documentation is available from here. I recommend that you start by reading “An Introduction to Cryptography” and then glance through the sections of the “PGP Desktop for Windows” user guide that are of most interest.

One of the best ways to become familiar with PGP is to simply try it. The company offers a free 30-day trial (see here).

 

Thanks for the reminder. I have been meaning to give it a try too.

 

Pleonasm (or any other PGP user),

can you clarify, please, when i buy a PGP Desktop license is it once forever or do I have to renew the subscription every year (as I understand it's the latter).

If it is annual subscription, what happens to the encrypted data if I don't renew the subscription? Can I still use the software normally after the yearly subscription expires?

It might sound silly, but this is something that confuses me with their subscriptions and "perpetual licenses". Thanks in advance

 

I just read their description and it seemed pretty clear to me. Your perpetual license will allow you to use the software indefinitely, but you will only receive upgrades, updates and official "PGP Bronze Support" for one year. Optionally you can buy additional years of support, which will include any new upgrades and updates that come along, but the software will keep on working irregardless.

Don't worry, PGP Corp isn't going to hold your data for ransom. The far greater risk is that you will inadvertently screw up and lock yourself out. The smartest thing you can do is to make backups.

 

SafetyFirst, for the PGP Desktop product, the answer is “both:” you can purchase a perpetual license or an annual license. With the former, Dantz is right -- you don’t need to pay any license fees in the future (except optionally for maintenance, if you wish support and upgrades). I believe that the latter includes support and upgrades during the term of the subscription, but (of course) you need to pay the license fee every year.

I recommend that you contact PGP sales to learn the details about the license options.

 

Dantz and Pleonasm, thanks for the clarification.

 

Is PGP able to enrypt a non-system XP partition that already contains data without destroying the data?

I am asking because TrueCrypt can't do it, it overwrites everything that is on the partition.

 

SafetyFirst, I haven’t used the Whole Disk Encryption feature of PGP, but from reviewing the documentation, it appears to work as most such utilities do: it reads a disk cluster, encrypts the cluster, and then writes the cluster back to disk. So, yes - it does overwrite data in the encryption process, but it doesn’t destroy data on the partition. The files that were on the partition before the encryption will be present and usable after the encryption is complete.

To be safe, I strongly recommend that you create a backup image of the partition (e.g., using ShadowProtect Desktop) before attempting to use any partition/disk encryption utility just in case something unexpectedly goes awry in the process.

 

Unless you want to use whole disk encryption you can use the open source alternative to PGP, GnuPG, this is free and will be a good practice, it will help you to understand how PGP encrypted email works. GPG4Win

SafetyFirst: The latest Truecrypt version can do what you ask for, encryption of partion without destruction of data, I have used it in the past. I believe this feature does not work on XP (read it somewhere), only Windows Vista.

 

Yes, I know that, the thing is that i have XP.

The TrueCrypt team says it is a limitation of XP, that's why I am asking if PGP has a solution for that.

 

TrueCrypt will not encrypt you disk in Windows XP without destroying your porn... eh data. Use http://diskcryptor.net/index.php/Main_Page in Windows XP.

 

Does GPG4Win work with webmail?

 

Just encrypt your entire hard drive with TrueCrypt, and no data gets lost.
I know this, because I'm using that right now.

 

The encryption is done locally in your computer, you will have to encrypt using notepad then copy and paste in your webmail.

 

Or, potentially use:

http://getfiregpg.org/s/home

 

Personally, I think S/MIME makes more sense for email encryption. It is so utterly transparent and as good as PGP. You can get free personal certificates from CAcert (www.cacert.org), among other places like Comodo and Thawte. Or, do as I did and use OpenSSL to "roll your own" certificate(s).

 

I don't agree, I think that OpenPGP is better.
With S/MIME you need to trust the third party certification server, while OpenPGP is entirely controlled by the end user, no third party is required.

 

True, I suppose, if you're paranoid, but note I suggested making your own CA authority certificate as well. That's what I did, then created a personal certificate with my own CA root certificate. Then, I only need to trust myself.

 

Ah I see. Thanks!

 

Are there any known incompabilities between PGP WDE and other software (especially security software: HIPS, antikeyloggers, behavioral blockers...)?
I wouldn't like some of them block booting up if I encrypt my system drive...

 

SafetyFirst, FYI -- I have read posts in the StorageCraft forum of challenges related to the use of PGP WDE and ShadowProtect Desktop.