Introducing Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is an encryption program used by millions of people to secure e-mail communication and files. PGP uses a secret key to encrypt the message of the file and then uses public key encryption to encrypt the secret key, which is sent with the file to its destination (see Figure 10-11). PGP users can select from different encryption algorithms when encrypting their messages. PGP also supports the use of digital signatures.

Figure 10-11: Using PGP to encrypt a message

PGP is available on Windows and Macintosh platforms and integrates with mainstream e-mail applications, including Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Entourage, and Apple Mail.

You can purchase and download PGP Personal Desktop at www.pgp.com, or a freeware version from www.pgpi.org.