REVIEW: PGP - PRETTY GOOD PRIVACY by Simson Garfinkel  O'REILLY & ASSOC. 1995
ISBN: 1-56592-098-8    393 pages, paperbound  $24.95

Finally, an authoritative book about a very popular and somewhat controversial
subject has been released.  It's not only about Phil Zimmermann's encryption
program, PRETTY GOOD PRIVACY, (PGP for short) although it covers the latest
version (2.6.2) in great detail.  Rather it is also a discussion of the concept 
of the people's right to privacy in a free society and governmental attempts 
to abridge these rights.  PGP is freely available encryption/decryption 
software that provides individuals with an extremely powerful cryptography 
package that has, in the past, been available only to the military, 
intelligence agencies and very large corporations.


PGP is used to encrypt and decrypt files and e-mail.  You can also "sign" 
documents with a tamper-proof digital signature to assure authenticity and
origin.  PGP is based upon the RSA algorithm, developed at MIT by 
mathematicians Rivest, Adleman and Shamir and the Diffie-Hellman concept of 
multi-user techniques commonly known as "Public Key" cryptography.   
From the beginning there were conflicts over patent infringements and  U.S. 
State Department export restrictions that consider cryptographic materials to 
be munitions!  Phil Zimmermann has taken on the establishment and his many 
legal battles continue even now.  A special defense fund has been set up for
supporters to help him with his legal expenses as he continues to stand up 
to the government on this all-important issue and challange to our right 
to privacy.

Simson Garfinkel has done an extremely thorough job of showing us all the
technical ins-and-outs of PRETTY GOOD PRIVACY and how to install it and use 
it on a PC, Macintosh or UNIX platform.  He even tells us where to get the 
latest version (for free!) by FTP from the server at M.I.T. provided you 
have full Internet access!  Moreover, he has gone much deeper into the 
PGP/privacy saga by detailing the "behind-the-scenes" stories of how Phil 
Zimmermann developed PGP, chronicling the patent infringement and export 
restriction conflicts and taking a human-interest look at the people 
involved in these all important legal precedent-setting actions that are 
still not resolved in the courts and probably won't be for a long time to 
come.

I have been following the PGP story since Version 1.0 was released in late
1991.  Many others share my interest - in fact there are several USENET 
newsgroups (including alt.security.pgp) and a mailing list totally devoted 
to discussion of PGP matters and right-to-privacy issues.  When O'Reilly
informed me a PGP book was forthcoming I was most anxious to review
it.  The fine folks at O'Reilly have done a truly superb job with the 
graphics and illustrations.  

This book is not only for those wanting to learn how to master PGP (although
it certainly will show you how), but for anyone interested in cryptography
and concerned with our fundamental right to privacy.  Simson Garfinkel's 
book didn't disappoint me - it accurately tells the whole PGP story and 
Garfinkel promises that future editions will continue to do so.  In my 
opinion this is the most fascinating computer story I've read since Cliff 
Stoll's classic yarn several years ago.  It won't disappoint you either.  

(C) 1995 
H. Michael Crestohl 
Nahant Massachusetts
E-mail: mc@shore.net