Email Security and my PGP Key

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When you send a letter, do you seal the envelope? Why, if you have nothing to hide? If you are like most people, you just don't want others reading your private business, even if it is perfectly legal. When you send an email, though, it is like sending a postcard. Any of several computers can (and do) archive the email, and anyone with just a little skill can read it.

PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) is a free software package that "puts an envelope" around your email, an envelope that only the recipient can open. Despite the cute name, it is an extremely good encryption package; to the point where its export was once controlled by the government, and it's author, Phil Zimmerman, was threatened with jail. Fortunately, that is behind us.

PGP works by generating two keys, one of which must be used to encrypt the message, and which is made public, and one, unique to the receiver, which will decrypt it. This one is kept private. My public key is in the box below. (Don't worry, though you can copy and paste this, many public keys, including mine, are available on servers, and the transfer of these keys is automatic.)

I strongly encourage people to download, install, and use a copy of PGP. As the internet becomes more and more ubiquitous, there will be more and more people trying to exploit it in unscrupulous ways. PGP can be found at http://www.pgp.com. International versions, source code, and other free goodies without the commercial hype can be found at http://www.pgpi.org. A good private site with lots of information about PGP is Tom McCune's PGP Page.

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: PGPfreeware 6.5.8 for non-commercial use <http://www.pgp.com>
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=2LaC
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

Last modified on 25 November 2001.

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