Encryption for users. Part two. Gpg4win

For encryption in windows, you can use such a free project as gpg4win, which I mentioned briefly 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 traces of their activities. More specifically, they can manage keys, encrypt messages sent by mail, and encrypt files on disk. In this post I want to consider in detail its composition and capabilities. Just want to note that I have not studied this package in detail and therefore I can only evaluate from the point of view of the user. But, I think even it will be interesting - it is also necessary to start with something small.
This package contains the following set of programs and plug-ins:

GnuPG

Directly the core of the package. It is responsible for the encryption process itself. By itself, this soft is a console. It allows you to sign and encrypt arbitrary messages. This is a complete 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 also newer versions on the developer's site - 1.4.9 and 2.0.9.
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WinPT

Graphic frontend for key management. Hanging in the tray allows you to manage the 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 on the manufacturer's website there was news that the project was frozen for an indefinite time - only security bug fixes are made. At the same time, it is separately emphasized that the project has not died - development is only delayed for some time. At the moment, this indefinite time was already about 16 months. As if to confirm these words, the news about a new planned bugfix release was published just recently.

GPA

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

GPGol

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

GPGee

Plugin for Microsoft explorer (explorer). It adds submenus for file operations, allowing 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 we recall the possibility of pgp-algorithms when encrypting indicate what keys can be decrypted content, the alternative becomes much more interesting than the standard approach.

Clawsmail

GTK based gpg based email client. I do not think that ordinary users will like it, but you can consider it as an alternative.

Documentation

Despite the fact that this build has good documentation, unfortunately it is not provided in Russian. There are only English and German translations, which is not 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 obsolete packages, it allows you to perform the necessary functions at a sufficient level.

Unfortunately, it cannot boast of either beautiful graphics or intuitive understanding 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