PGP problems

[Brian Morrison]

On Tue, 1 Aug 2000 13:33:04 -0700 (PDT), Green No.#2 wrote:

>> >PGP is no different from those examples, just because it doesn't matter
>> >to you that people *could* read your mail doesn't mean that they
>> >*should be able* to.
>
>I'm sorry, I don't think it's the same. What do you do with people in the
>mall, on the street or on the bus? Do you speak in coded gibberish? Or do
>you just not talk when in public? PGP is no different from _these_
>examples when most people communicate via e-mail!

Much of my conversations in public could be described as gibberish, it
would take an enormous effort to track and correlate all of my vocal
communications. Email is much easier to intercept.

>
>Mind you this is not saying that PGP shouldn't be available, easy to use
>and "seamless". It should be there if for some reason two parties decide
>they need it.
>

Indeed, but everyone should use some form of encryption, it is similar
to multiple conversations in one area, each provides camouflage and
cover for the others. If all email were encrypted, the volume would be
such that intercepting agencies would have their work cut out to make
sense of what they got. Even 56 bit keys would do for most cases, it
increases the decryption effort required enormously.


-- 
Brian Morrison                                  bdm@fenrir.demon.co.uk
              do you know how far this has gone?
               just how damaged have I become?
                                      'Even Deeper' by Nine Inch Nails