| |
K0JPB > PGP 14.11.04 19:09l 64 Lines 2772 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 37818_N0KFQ
Read: DG8NGN GUEST DG4IAD DL7NDR
Subj: Re: How do you use it ?
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<OK0PPL<DB0RES<ON0BEL<W1NGL<W7NTF<KD4GCA<W4JAX<N4ZKF<
N0KFQ
Sent: 041113/2025Z @:N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA #:37818 [Branson] $:37818_N0KFQ
From: K0JPB@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : PGP@WW
Hi Ian,
PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) is an outstanding method of securing
your information. I use it for protecting files that contain
private information to keep it private. Occasionally, I will
use it to encrypt an email before sending it to a friend. The
email may contain something like a private phone number, or
a credit card number, or other confidential information that
I would not want someone using a packet sniffer to detect.
Note, that I believe PGP could not be used in Amateur Radio
communicatiions -- at least in the US -- since the FCC does
not allow encrypted communications, unless they use a published
method for anyone to decode the communication.
1) You can publish your public key so that anyone you want to
read an encrypted message may do so. Registering the PGP program
will allow you access to more automatic functions, but it will
give no one access to your private key. Registering your public
key with a public key server, or posting it on a website, or
printing it at the bottom of every message is perfectly okay.
2) You are not compromising your own security by registering
your public key with an anonymous body. The way this works is
by using a private and public key pair. When you use PGP for
the first time, you will generate this pair of keys. The private
key and its passphrase should remain extremely private. The public
key can be broadcast to the world.
Let's say you want to send an encrypted message to your cousin.
You would use your cousin's public key and your private key to
create an encrypted message that only your cousin could decrypt
with his private key. There is a LOT more information in the
PDF files that come with PGP and in the Help file that is part
of PGP.
3) On your last point, yes, you can use PGP to create an SDA
(Self Decrypting Archive) and send it to someone else. Yes,
they will need the passphrase in order to open it. You would
want to get the passphrase to them in some private/secure manner.
Perhaps you would call them on the phone, or send a packet message,
or split the passphrase in parts and give it to them a part at
a time by different means. Or perhaps you would use a short, weak
passphrase and jut tell them it is the name of the city where
you went on vacation with him in 1997. How you get the passphrase
to him is up to you. Certainly, do not send it with the SDA.
4) Yes, the keys from the German stations were likely their
PGP public keys. You would use them in order to generate
an encrypted message to go to them. Again, the PGP documentation
is very thorough.
If you haven't already, you can download the freeware version
from www.pgp.com.
Enjoy! and 73,
Patrick, k0jpb
November 13, 2004
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
