16 August 2006
Easy home encryption
For those interested in privacy and security of their data there is an open source application that is included in most Linux distributions and is as well available for Windows and MacOs users.
Gnu Privacy Guard (GnuPG) is command line only although there is a GUI available for Windows. It completely implements PGP (pretty good privacy) and the algorithms used are completely unpatented. GnuPG will decrypt and verify PGP 5, 6, and 7. Also other algorithms can be easily implemented using modules.
This application allows for the creation of private and public keys and the import of public keys to enable a file to be encrypted for a specific person.
The different types of keys that are available are DSA and ElGamal, DSA, and ElGamal, the first of which is default. The size of the key can be anything above 768 bits and is recommended to be no more than 1048 bits. While larger keys are of course more secure, they also take longer to encrypt and decrypt.
Those interested in learning more about this application can go to the GnuPG website.
Gnu Privacy Guard (GnuPG) is command line only although there is a GUI available for Windows. It completely implements PGP (pretty good privacy) and the algorithms used are completely unpatented. GnuPG will decrypt and verify PGP 5, 6, and 7. Also other algorithms can be easily implemented using modules.
This application allows for the creation of private and public keys and the import of public keys to enable a file to be encrypted for a specific person.
The different types of keys that are available are DSA and ElGamal, DSA, and ElGamal, the first of which is default. The size of the key can be anything above 768 bits and is recommended to be no more than 1048 bits. While larger keys are of course more secure, they also take longer to encrypt and decrypt.
Those interested in learning more about this application can go to the GnuPG website.
Labels: encryption, GNU, linux, Mac, OSS, windows
