posted March 08, 2000 09:11 AM            

They've made quite a bit of progress in developing PGP (which stands for Pretty Good Privacy) and various software packages out there that "envelope" themselves around PGP, making it more user-friendly to send and receive encrypted email messages and store files securely.

But, man, from my experience it is a bitch. I'd like to hear somebody here say, "Hey, I found out how to use it without problems." I really would. Public Key cryptography is just not intuitive to most people ("public keys," "private keys," "keyrings," etc.). It reminds me of Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity.

But, assuming you master Public Key principles and get PGP to work okay with whatever email program you use, there is still this little pesky problem of the OTHER PERSON also using PGP. Most people (unfortunately) don't use it for the above reasons, although it is becoming more popular as we understand just how insecure Internet is and how email can be intercepted and exploited.

Good message, though. It makes me think I should go to www.pgp.com, download the freeware version, and try again, this time with my new Microsoft Outlook 2000. Anybody on this board willing to send and receive a few test emails, provided I can get it working?

posted March 08, 2000 10:36 AM            

I can tell you this, cause I know some programers that work for OUR FAVORITE UNCLE
that even if you think your computer is secure and have programs to watch out for someone watching you that it won't do any good. They have a Program that is undectable by any form of virus scan as well as microsoft and linux period. It hides on your hard drive and won't even register as space being taken. It allows them to see every keystroke you make while online and what sites your going. It's mostly given to people who go to websites the Govt sets up in hopes of seeing which people are trying to learn to build bombs, or weapons and stuff like that...I have never heard how to check your computer for this, but do know if you were able to then you could really crash some waves with it. If anyone here know's what I'm talking about then email me and maybe We can concur about this.