All About PGP

Sep 15, 1995

Abstract

This will be a discussion about PGP and public-key cryptography. We will discuss how public-key cryptography works, elements of privacy-enhanced mail and digital signatures, and some of the politics and law associated with cryptography and e-mail.
Seminar attendees with CS department accounts can find PGP software and documentation installed in the /usr/local/pgp directory. Everyone can find some WWW links to PGP information via Spaf's hotlist entries for PGP .

If you generate a PGP key ("pgp -kg") prior to the meeting, extract it and e-mail it to Spaf prior to the meeting ("pgp -kxtaf myname | Mail -s 'My pgp key' spaf@cerias.purdue.edu") -- be sure to sign it yourself before you mail it! Then, generate the key signature ("pgp -kvc myname") and bring it with you, along with some ID. After you present your signature to Spaf at the seminar, he'll sign your key. Others at the seminar might also be willing to sign your key after getting your signature.