Introduction to PGP

PGP is an acronym which stands for "Pretty Good Privacy". It is a program that will allow users to encrypt files and E-Mail messages, for privacy, and authentication. With PGP, you can prove that you, and only you, sent a certain mail message, or that only you can read a certain message. Some users use it for "signing" announcements, while other users use it for all of their mail.

PGP Is installed on the central (Research and GL) UNIX systems, and several help files and commands have been set up to make using PGP easier. Below are links to several files explaining more about PGP, as well as how to use it easily.

Of interest may be the pgp-users mailing list, where new users can ask questions, and find out information about whats going on with PGP. To subscribe to the mailing list, mail majordomo@lists.umbc.edu with the line:

subscribe pgp-users

and you will be automatically added to the list. Although the list is based at UMBC, non-UMBC users are invited to join the list for help or information.

PGP at UMBC

• PGP Overview
• PGP Commands at UMBC
• Encrypting E-mail
• Public Keys Index at UMBC

References elsewhere on the Net

• Yahoo - PGP Information
• PGP Documentation
• JANET PGP Information
• PGP FAQ (by Gary Edstrom)
• The PGP FAQ, Buglist, Fixes, and Improvements Page (at MIT)

Security Related Newsgroups

• alt.security
• alt.security.keydist
• alt.security.pgp
• alt.security.ripem
• comp.security.announce
• comp.security.firewalls
• comp.security.misc
• comp.security.unix
• misc.security
• sci.crypt