Hello Chris, Monday, January 15, 2007, 8:17:08 PM, you wrote:
CW> Jack S. LaRosa @ 2007-1-15 5:57:15 PM CW> "Encryption" <mid:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> While I'm not into black helicopters as a rule, I do lean towards >> lending some credence to what I've read about Google's data-mining >> practices and how easily it could be subverted. It occurred to me >> that perhaps that might be one reason why some people on this list >> seem to use encryption CW> Think of normal e-mail messages as postcards. Encrypted e-mail CW> messages are letters in (really strong, tamper evident) security CW> envelopes. Ah! The light begins to dawn. >> but since I'm always able to view correspondence from this list >> without any decryption that I'm aware of, I'm at a loss to >> understand the purpose this encryption. If I can view the email >> apparently un-encrypted, where's the protection encryption >> supposedly provides? Or am I completely missing the purpose of such >> encryption? CW> These e-mail messages are not encrypted; they are signed. If you CW> inspect this message's source, you will see that there is a checksum CW> included. This, along with my public key, will allow you (with the CW> correct software) to determine whether this message has been modified CW> in transit (which it shouldn't have). Thank you Chris. You have clearly explained what I've been seeing on this list. With this new-found knowledge you've provided I now assume that PGP or some other encryption utility *could* be used to completely encrypt (make un-readable) any email message. True? And if so, would any recipient then need a key of some sort to make the message readable? While I currently have no reason to encrypt (or sign) any email I might send, I can see dark clouds looming over the horizon which might make one concerned about just who (or what) was reading such emails. A sign of the times I suppose. -- Best regards, Jack mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Now running TB! v3.95.6 from Windows XP 5.1 Build 2600 - Service Pack 2 ________________________________________________ Current version is 3.95.06 | 'Using TBUDL' information: http://www.silverstones.com/thebat/TBUDLInfo.html
