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Q & A; The Privacy Keys: How They Guard Secrets
J. D. Biersdorfer

Technology|Q & A; The Privacy Keys: How They Guard Secrets

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/13/technology/q-a-the-privacy-keys-how-they-guard-secrets.html

Q & A

May 13, 1999

See the article in its original context from
May 13, 1999, Section G, Page 6Buy Reprints


Q. How does the PGP encryption software work?

A. Pretty Good Privacy, or PGP, is a freeware program that runs on most platforms and lets you encrypt, or secretly encode, computer files. It is
one of the most popular methods for encrypting messages moving across the Internet to deter snoopers. Readers need the proper key, or decryption
tool, to decipher the text.

PGP works with what is called public key cryptography. Each PGP user has a public key, which is made available without any attempt at hiding it.
Someone who wants to send you an encrypted message uses your public key to
put the message into code, and that puts the message into a form that can
be deciphered only by someone with a second key -- your private key, which
you do not share with anyone. To send a reply, you use the recipient's
public key to put the message into code, and the recipient's private key
is used to decode it.

A good beginner's guide to the program (along with links to download sites
for PGP) is at www.arc.unm.edu/drosoff/pgp/pgp.html.

PGP, which was invented by Philip R. Zimmermann, proved to be so effective
an encryption method that the Federal Government filed a lawsuit (which it later dropped) against the program's creator because the freely available technology could be used to code messages sent by enemies of the United
States.

Q. What exactly does it mean when something is called digital? I hear the
term constantly, but I'm not sure what it means.

A. Along with a wealth of new technology that is becoming commonplace in
the home, the computer revolution has also introduced new terms into
common usage. Just as the ubiquitous prefix cyber (from the Greek word kybernan, meaning to steer or govern) has become increasingly attached to various aspects of on-line life -- cybershopping, cyberchatting and so on
-- the term digital has also been popping up more.

Computers are considered digital systems because at the simplest level,
they can distinguish between only two values: 1 or 0, on or off. All
computer data must be encoded in digital form as a string of 1's and 0's. Casually speaking, the word digital has also generally come to identify
things related to computers. When you hear cameras or video cameras being called digital, it means that the data produced by these devices are in a digital format.

The opposite of digital is analog. In an analog system, you aren't limited
to recording your data as either a 1 or a 0. All values can be expressed
in a continuous way, and all points between 1 and 0. A popular analogy to illustrate the point is based on clocks. On a digital clock, each value,
like 11:21, is very specifically expressed. But on an old-fashioned analog clock, with big and little hands, the hands move continuously around the
clock face, covering all points in between.

J. D. BIERSDORFER

Circuits invites questions about computer-based technology, by postal mail
to Questions, Circuits, The New York Times, 229 West 43d Street, New York,
N.Y. 10036-3959 or by E-mail to QandA@nytimes.com.

A version of this article appears in print on May 13, 1999, Section G,
Page 6 of the National edition with the headline: Q & A; The Privacy Keys:
How They Guard Secrets. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe



--
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Anyone that isn't confused doesn't really
understand the situation.
~Edward R. Murrow USA WWII Correspondent ==================================================

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