Subject: RE: e-mail privacy

From: Michael {Sphinx} Cannon <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 12:35:49 -0600

Email is not private unless it's encrypted somehow (i.e. PGP).  Anybody with a packet sniffer can read any mail being sent to you..

	-Sphinx

-----Original Message-----
From:	Diane A. Walsh [SMTP:[email-masked]]
Sent:	Friday, April 04, 1997 12:17 PM
To:	Pine Discussion Forum
Subject:	e-mail privacy

Could you explain to as to just how private is e-mail?  Can't someone
else read e-mail addressed to me?  A prompt response would be most
appreciated.  Thank you - please respond to [email-masked]

diane  a. walsh

---

From: "Diane A. Walsh" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 18:18:34 -0500 (EST)

Thank you for your prompt reply.  I suppose it is like a postcard
only you don't have to wait two weeks to receive it.  Am I correct
in assuming that?  Thanks!

diane  a. walsh

---

From: Andrew Le <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 16:35:34 -0800 (PST)

That is correct.

> > appreciated.  Thank you - please respond to [email-masked]

Andrew Le                  PHONE: (206) 254-9925
Casabyte LLC                 FAX: (206) 254-9926
http://www.casabyte.com   E-MAIL: [email-masked] 
-----------------------------------------------------

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From: Robert de Bath <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 5 Apr 1997 06:42:37 +0100 (BST)

On Fri, 4 Apr 1997, Sphinx wrote:

> Email is not private unless it's encrypted somehow (i.e. PGP).
> Anybody with a packet sniffer can read any mail being sent to you..
Who needs a packet sniffer, on many systems the email spool directories
are global read (Though they shouldn't be) and root can always read any
mail.

The normal analogy is the email is about as private as a postcard.
Encryption (eg PGP) can quite reasonably considered like an envelope.

--
Rob.                           (Robert de Bath <[email-masked]>)

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From: Robert de Bath <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 5 Apr 1997 07:07:49 +0100 (BST)

> That is correct.
Grrrr, that's known as OLR lag!   :-)

---

From: Robin S Socha <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 5 Apr 1997 14:19:52 +0200 (CEST)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

  >I suppose it is like a postcard only you don't have to wait two weeks to
  >receive it. Am I correct in assuming that?
  >> Email is not private unless it's encrypted somehow (i.e. PGP).  Anybody
  > with a packet sniffer can read any mail being sent to you..

Maybe a word about encryption might be appreciated:

   "PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) is a public key encryption package to protect
   E-mail and data files. It lets you communicate securely with people
   you've never met, with no secure channels needed for prior exchange of
   keys."
   
You can get PGP from the internet for almost any platform. It's easy to
install and can be used to secure the files on your system, too. 

There are a couple of filters available to use PGP with pine, most notably
pgp-pine by Roland Rosenfeld <[email-masked]>

	http://www.rhein.de/~roland/

and papp by Aldo Valente <[email-masked]>

	http://www.rhein.de/~aldo/

The latter gives you the opportunity to store the passphrase for either the
session or (*not* good) in a file for general use.

So, if you think you need to exchange sensitive data, if you want to make
sure your message isn't garbled with, or if you want to make a political
statement for free speech on the internet, go for PGP.
        
Nice weekend and stuff,
Robin        
        
- -----
Robin S. Socha,
Political Science Dept., Bonn University, Bonn
To get my pgp public key, send an e-mail with the subject "get pgp-key"

GMC d++ s+:+ a- C++ UL++$>+++$ P+>++$ E>+ W- N+ o@ w--- M-- PS--- PE+++ Y+
PGP++>+++ t+() 5-- tv++(+) b+++ DI++ D+(++) G++>+++ e++>+++ h r++>+++ y+**