PGP encryption now available as turnkey solution

By Steve Malone

Posted on 15 Sep 2003 at 15:13

PGP Corporation, the company that popularised the public key/private key method of encryption, has introduced PGP Universal. The system is claimed to offer full PGP data encryption, yet makes it easy for end users to operate.

Originally written by Phil Zimmerman, PGP (pretty good privacy) has become the benchmark technology for secure transmission of data.

As company emails become more and more sensitive to a business's operation and the risk of hacking increases, companies are looking for better ways of securing their information. However, the complexity of public key/private key authentication has meant that it has been unsuitable for ordinary end users to operate.

The stated aim of PGP Universal is to shift the burden of securing email messages and attachments from the end user to the network. As a result, encryption/decryption of incoming and outgoing information becomes automatic and transparent. Previously users had to publish their own 'public key' to enable end-to-end encryption and decryption. This part of the process is now handled at the servers end by managing automatic key generation, life-cycle management, and encryption/decryption/digital signatures.

PGP Corp says that PGP Universal offers a new network proxy- and protocol-based security solution that satisfies companies' issues of deployment, management, usability, and cost.

More information can be found at the PGP website.