Vanity: Encrypting Email

11/01/03 | Faith65

[Faith65]

I am trying to find out more about encrypting email or digitally protecting what I send and I thought that Freepers would surely know the answers. I currently have AOL and I have been told that they digitally protect the email that their users send but there is no place to read about it. Can anyone offer up some help regarding this issue? I currently do send email regarding a legal matter and I always thought that my email was safe but now I must be sure.

[palmer]

You can encrypt email that you send to people who have digital certificates. You encrypt it with their public key, but only they can read it with their private key. If you want people to send you encrypted email, you have to obtain a digital certificate, from verisign for example, and install it into Outlook or Outlook Express.

[Rodney King]

I am sure that there are freepers that know a lot more than I do, but the best encryption program is PGP. However, you should always assume that someone is able to read your email, and act accordingly.

[oceanview]

http://www.cryptography.org/getpgp.htm

[cmsgop]

Sure are alot of VANITY'S Tonight.....

[Faith65]

Thank you all for your help. I will look into the information you gave me.

God Bless!

[ExSoldier]

Also remember that carnivore and eschelon are in full use, so the government is reading everything, anyway. But that's okay, right? I mean...you DO trust the government, right?

[Faith65]

Maybe because freepers usually can provide accurate information ......

God Bless!

[Faith65]

No! Of course not. But it's a legal matter and I just want to know that my emails are secure from tampering.

[fiftymegaton]

I think a more accurate statement would be that the government CAN read everything but they CAN'T read everything.

[fiftymegaton]

CAN read anything but CAN'T read everything. Try to make a point and I mess it up. Terrible.

[cmsgop]

Maybe because freepers usually can provide accurate information ......

No Question about that....

[TheHound]

They record everything. Go NSA!

[Faith65]

Glad we agree on that point!

[cmsgop]

Hey, I meant no disrespect at all. Things happen in cycles,FR is no exception.

[ExSoldier]

"I just want to know that my emails are secure from tampering."

If for any reason you come to the attention of some bright hackers, whether by accident or because they are hired by somebody opposing you in a legal venue...you are not going to be safe from tampering. Even PGP which is pretty darn good, can be hacked by somebody really good at the game. Although I have heard that the only folks that can bust it are No Such Agency; I don't really believe that one. I say for really secure communication use a courier. Are you really paranoid now? Sorry, I don't mean to make you just like me. LOL

[Faith65]

I was just trying to get some help.....I find help is always here.....it's Saturday night and my brother-in-law freaked me out today about my email.....that's all....I read further and I see you are right and there is alot of vanity on this site tonight....no disrespect taken.....God Bless!

[Faith65]

I wish you hadn't "said" that about getting some unwanted attention.....hummmm.......I was just starting to feel alittle better about securing my email. I was already PARANOID to start.....conspiracy theorist at heart....that's me......but I give it all to God to handle......that's the only way I can live my life.

[numberonepal]

PC-Encrypt has a pretty good FREE 56-bit encryption (7 character password limit I think) tool that uses Blowfish. You can download the free tool here: http://www.pc-encrypt.com/_site/alock/download.mhtml. Upgrades to 448-bit encryption are only $30 (up to 56 character passwords).

The only problem with this is that the person on the other side of what you are sending must have the tool as well. However, at the top of the encrypted email there is a link to download the tool. Also you must both have the same passwords in your password lists. It's very effective when you are both on the same page with the encryption, especially if you send files that have been encrypted with A-Lock. I use it all the time to encrypt stuff.

Yes 7-bit blowfish can be broken, but it takes a substantial amount of time and computing power to do so. But this is only with software that guesses at the passwords over and over again until it gets the right one. Just like anything else, good passwords are key (no pun intended).

Otherwise it's easy to use, and can be a very powerful tool. One of the cool features is that you can just type in your email in a text box (AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.) and click the icon and it's encrypted right there before you send it.

[Faith65]

Thanks- I'll look at that also tonight.