Re: attach3...aprox 189kB
On Thursday 30 May 2002 12:21 am, Arthur Dent wrote:
> Hi
> I just began posting on this list and thankfully received a lot of replies.
> A few of them included an atachment and most of the attachments from
> different people were called attach3. When I went to have a quick look at
> one of them it said it was of file type pgp...is this some sort of privacy
> thing??? What does it do, I dont wish to install anything untill I know.
> When I had windows going I would run it through a virus scanner and all
> incoming would go through zonealarm fire wall so things were pretty
> tight(As far as I knew). Right now running this linux machine with no virus
> scan and no firewall makes me feel soooooo vulnerable.....
>
the attachments are pgp signature keys. they certainly won't hurt you in any
way. pgp allows for encryption of your mail while it's traversing the
distance between addresser and addressee. i don't use it myself, although,
now that the gumment suspects everybody of everything and has taken to poking
its nose into everyone's business, it's starting to seem like a good idea.
pgp stands for pretty good privacy, and was developed by phil zimmerman. do a
google search on his name and you'll surely find reference to the federal
level harrassment he had to endure for years, and all because of a tiny
little program that allowed people to protect the exercise of their first
amendment rights. personally, i've never regarded email to be any more
private than what i'd write on the back of a postcard, but hindering the
snoops seems like a valid response to their intrusion. it's not that they
can't crack it, but that it forces them to go to the effort of having to
justify to someone somewhere along the line.
you should check out debian.org for firewall apps and etc.
ben
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