Sage-Tips

Can PGP encryption be broken?

The vulnerability report, which came with its own website, efail.de, has attracted a lot of headlines such as the one below, along with recommendations to disable the usage of PGP plugins.

Is GnuPG secure?

Assurance & Security If GnuPG is used correctly, you can be sure of the integrity of your encrypted data. GPG delivers security by encrypting the communication, protecting the message from tampering, and safeguards both the sender and recipient via verification.

Can the NSA break PGP?

A lot of people think that PGP encryption is unbreakable and that the NSA/FBI/CIA/MJ12 cannot read their mail. Since version 2.1, PGP (“Pretty Good Privacy”) has been rigged to allow the NSA to easily break encoded messages. …

What is GnuPG encryption?

GnuPG (more commonly known as GPG) is an implementation of a standard known as PGP (Pretty Good Privacy). It uses a system of “public” and “private” keys for the encryption and signing of messages or data.

Can PGP decrypt GPG?

GPG can open and decrypt files encrypted by PGP or Open PGP, meaning it works well with other products.

Can AES encryption be broken?

AES 256 is virtually impenetrable using brute-force methods. While a 56-bit DES key can be cracked in less than a day, AES would take billions of years to break using current computing technology. Hackers would be foolish to even attempt this type of attack.

What is Gpg4win and how does it work?

It is a suite of tools that can make your life somewhat easier while using GnuPG in a Microsoft Windows environment. Among the tools included in Gpg4win are: GnuPG: This is the GnuPG encryption tool itself, an implementation of the OpenPGP standard that provides the same functionality as the commercial PGP application.

How can the NSA break RSA?

The NSA may have some way to factor very large semi-primes. This would break PGP, RSA, etc. The list of attacks that Schneier suggests are not an enormous breakthrough. Suppose 1) the NSA could devise a cypher with a hidden back door such that only they could perform a cryptanalytic attack, and moreover that nobody else could detect its presence.

Can I use GnuPG on an MS Windows system?

This article addresses getting the functionality of GnuPG on an MS Windows system by way of Gpg4win. Gpg4win is not just a basic GnuPG package. It is a suite of tools that can make your life somewhat easier while using GnuPG in a Microsoft Windows environment.

What are the odds that the NSA has a secret AES?

Still, the NSA has some smart people working with them in secret. I’d estimate there’s a 10\% chance of 1) and maybe a 50\% chance of 2), for a total of a 5\% chance that the NSA has been keeping quiet about a secret AES back door. These probabilities can’t be based on hard data – we don’t have any.