Encryption for users. Part two. Gpg4win.

For encryption in windows, you can use such a free project as gpg4win, which I briefly mentioned in the last part . It is a set of patches, plug-ins and programs that cover most of the user's needs in the difficult task of encrypting the traces of their activities. More precisely, they can manage keys, encrypt messages sent by mail, and encrypt files on a disk. In this post I want to consider in detail its composition and capabilities. I want to note right away that I did not study this package in detail, and therefore I can evaluate it only from the point of view of the user. But, I think even it will be interesting - to start with something small is also necessary.
This package includes the following set of programs and plugins:

Gnupg

The package core itself. It is responsible for the encryption process itself. By itself, this softinka is a console. It allows you to sign and encrypt arbitrary messages. It is a full implementation of the OpenPGP standard described in RFC4880. The current version included in the package is 1.4.7 and 2.0.7. However , there are newer versions on the developer's site - 1.4.9 and 2.0.9.

Winpt

Graphic frontend for key management. Hanging in the tray, allows you to manage keys :) I have nothing more to say about it, because I prefer enigmail - an extension to thunderbird. The current version is 1.2.0. For a long time, the news was hanging on the manufacturer’s website that the project was frozen for an indefinite period — only security bug fixes were made. At the same time, it is emphasized separately that the project has not died - development is only delayed for some time. At the moment, this indefinite time was already a little about 16 months. As if in support of these words, the news about a new planned bugfix release was just recently published.

GPA

Another manager for key management. On the assembly site gpg4win they write that it “is slightly different in taste”, unless, of course, my English is good enough to translate this sentence. It uses GTK to display graphics. I can’t say anything negative about him, except that for my taste WinPT will still be tastier. But on the other hand, this development, as I understand it, is supported by the GnuPG developers and is not frozen unlike the previous one. The current version is 0.7.6.
Screenshots can be seen here .

GPGol

Plugin for Microsoft outlook 2003. Allows you to encrypt email messages. As I understand it, now it is becoming almost useless, since many are moving to the 2007 office. The developer's site indicates that they know about this problem and are working on it. So you can wait for a new version that will support outlook 2007 ...

GPGee

Plugin for Microsoft explorer (explorer). It adds a submenu for file operations that allows you to encrypt, sign and decrypt files. In practice, it can be used as an alternative to the standard approach - password-protected file archives. And if you recall the possibility of pgp-algorithms during encryption to indicate which keys the contents can be decrypted, then the alternative becomes much more interesting than the standard approach.

ClawsMail

GTK-based email client with integrated gpg support. I don’t think that ordinary users will like it, but you can consider it as an alternative.

Documentation

Despite the fact that this assembly has good documentation, unfortunately it is not provided in Russian. There are only English and German translations, which is not at all an option for ordinary users.

Summarizing

Gpg4win is a good set that can be useful for organizing encrypted communication. Despite the fact that it contains outdated packages, it itself allows you to perform the necessary functions at a sufficient level.

Unfortunately, he can not boast of beautiful graphics or intuitive or Russian documentation. Therefore, in any case, users need to be trained in the basics and principles of interaction with encryption utilities. It is worth remembering that the main security hole is the human factor. No programs can protect information if the user does not know how to handle them.


crosspost from my blog