Pretty Good Privacy: Difference between revisions

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'''Pretty Good Privacy''' or '''PGP''' is a [[hybrid cryptosystem]] for [[email]] security, originally developed by [[Phil Zimmerman]].
'''Pretty Good Privacy''' or '''PGP''' is a [[hybrid cryptosystem]] for [[email]] security, originally developed by [[Phil Zimmerman]].


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The original PGP used a block cipher called Bassomatic, devised by Zimmerman. This was quickly shown to be weak, and replaced with [[IDEA]] in version 2.0. In version 3.0. they switched to [[CAST-128]] which, unlike IDEA, was free of patent restrictions.
The original PGP used a block cipher called Bassomatic, devised by Zimmerman. This was quickly shown to be weak, and replaced with [[IDEA]] in version 2.0. In version 3.0. they switched to [[CAST-128]] which, unlike IDEA, was free of patent restrictions.


There is an Internet standard for "Open PGP", RFc 2440 <ref name="opgp">[http://tools.ietf.org/html/2440 Open PGP Message Format] RFC at the [[IETF]]</ref>.
There is an Internet standard for "Open PGP", RFC 2440 <ref name="opgp">[http://tools.ietf.org/html/2440 Open PGP Message Format] RFC at the [[IETF]]</ref>.


An [[Open Source]] implementation of that standard, [[GNU Privacy Guard]] (GPG), is available [http://www.gnupg.org/].
An [[Open Source]] implementation of that standard, [[GNU Privacy Guard]] (GPG), is available [http://www.gnupg.org/].

Revision as of 01:18, 2 November 2008

Pretty Good Privacy or PGP is a hybrid cryptosystem for email security, originally developed by Phil Zimmerman.

All versions use a public key cryptosystem to provide digital signatures and to manage keys for a block cipher which does the actual message encryption.

The original PGP used a block cipher called Bassomatic, devised by Zimmerman. This was quickly shown to be weak, and replaced with IDEA in version 2.0. In version 3.0. they switched to CAST-128 which, unlike IDEA, was free of patent restrictions.

There is an Internet standard for "Open PGP", RFC 2440 [1].

An Open Source implementation of that standard, GNU Privacy Guard (GPG), is available [1].

References