REVIEW:  PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY by William Stallings, PhD  Prentice Hall 1994

A while ago I wrote a review of O'Reilly & Associate's PGP - PRETTY GOOD
PRIVACY by Simson Garfinkel.  Several readers wrote me asking me to take
a look at PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY by Dr William Stallings since it was the
first book about PGP.  So, review fans, here it is!

For those of you who may not know what PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) is, it
is a very sophisticated and powerful crypto program that allows e-mail
users to send messages that can only be read by the person to whom it was
addressed.  PGP also allows you to authenticate a message as actually
being from that sender, not an imposter.  Finally, PGP affords the files
on your own computer the option of being encrypted so only you can view
or run them.  Its powerful stuff.....to the point that the government has
threatened to jail its developer, Phil Zimmermann.  It seems that crypto
materials are classified as munitions and require a permit before they
can be exported.  PGP raises all kinds of legal and constitutional issues
and the courts will most likely be pondering them for many years to come.

PGP uses a UNIX-style command-line and switches interface.  PROTECT YOUR 
PRIVACY explains exactly what PGP is, what it can do and how to use it. 
Dr. Stallings clearly explains public key cryptography and illuminates many
otherwise difficult concepts, including digital signatures and hash codes.
He covers key generation, keyring management, digital signatures, 
authentication, preparing a message for transmission, receiving and 
decrypting a message.  The detailed instructions cover DOS, UNIX and
MacPGP for Macintosh as well as two Windows front-end programs, WinPGP 
and PGP WinFront.  Two chapters are devoted to DOS and Macintosh PGP
command reference and include several PGP features that are undocumented
in the original release version.  Its all there - as developer Phil
Zimmermann wrote in the foreword: "I'll probably use his book myself...."

Part Three is devoted to supplementary information including a description
of how PGP works, hints and tips on choosing a password and information on
key servers and how to use them.  Finally, Dr Stallings tells us where and
how to get the latest PGP version, documentation, language files, etc 
free of charge by anonymous ftp or ftp-mail.  

PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY will teach you how to use PGP to its full level of
effectiveness with a bit of study and practice.  Rob Slade's description
of the documentation being "terse but serviceable" is apt and accurate.
It is, in my opinion, a very competent job by a well-respected and 
authoratative author.


%T      Protect Your Privacy
%A      Williams Stallings
%I      Prentice Hall
%C      Englewood Cliffs NJ
%D      1994
%O      Price: $19.95, paperbound
%G      ISBN:0-13-185596-4 
%P      300 pp
%K      Cryptography, PGP, e-mail


(C) 1995
Michael Crestohl
Nahant Massachusetts  USA
mc@shore.net

DISCLAIMER:  I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in the success or 
failure of the book or materials reviewed herewith, nor have I received any 
compensation (other than a review copy requested by me) from anyone who has.  
All opinions expressed are strictly my own.

Other Internet and Aviation book/software reviews by me can be obtained 
by anonymous FTP from:  x2ftp.oulu.fi in the /pub/books/crestohl directory.