pgp

PGP, IBM help Bletchley Park raise funds

A campaign will be launched on Tuesday to ask U.S. tech companies to help save Bletchley Park, whose wartime work helped lay the foundations of modern computing and crytography.

The fund-raising campaign will be led by cryptography provider PGP, together with IBM and other technology firms. Phil Dunkelberger, chief executive of PGP, told ZDNet UK in a video interview that the group of companies would be making donations to repair the buildings at Bletchley Park, including the National Museum of Computing, and would be calling for other organizations to get involved.

"We're calling attention (to the fact … Read more

The Real Deal 123: Encryption

Tom and Rafe give the basics on encryption and examples of how to use it in the real world. Listen now: Download today's podcast History

Coded messages date back to Roman Times and probably existed before.

Sticklers may prefer encyphering an decyphering. reserve decrypt for decoding a message you don't have the key for.

What it means

Types of Encryption

-Symmetric-key

Each computer has a secrte key by which it encrypts and decrypts the data. Only another computer that knows what key was used can decrypt. Problem with key distribution

-Public key - introduced by Whitfield Diffie and … Read more

Homeland Security: We can seize laptops for an indefinite period

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has concocted a remarkable new policy: It reserves the right to seize for an indefinite period of time laptops taken across the border.

A pair of DHS policies from last month say that customs agents can routinely--as a matter of course--seize, make copies of, and "analyze the information transported by any individual attempting to enter, re-enter, depart, pass through, or reside in the United States." (See policy No. 1 and No. 2.)

DHS claims the border search of electronic information is useful to detect terrorists, drug smugglers, and people violating "… Read more

Security guide to customs-proofing your laptop

If you travel across national borders, it's time to customs-proof your laptop.

Customs officials have been stepping up electronic searches of laptops at the border, where travelers enjoy little privacy and have no legal grounds to object. Laptops and other electronic devices can be seized without reason, their contents copied, and the hardware returned hours or even weeks later.

Executives have been told that they must hand over their laptop to be analyzed by border police--or be barred from boarding their flight. A report from a U.S.-based marijuana activist says U.S. border guards browsed through her … Read more