PGP 6.0: Pro Crypto Suite Gets Personal

Pretty Good Privacy is the grassroots standard for strong e-mail, file encryption, and digital signatures. PGP for Personal Privacy 6.0, the upgrade to our September Best Buy (see " The Defenders"), makes PGP friendly enough for users who don't know a cipher key from a house key but are concerned about growing privacy problems. The upgrade's modules (PGPkeys, PGPtools, PGPtray, and assorted plug-ins) offer the same 128-bit encryption as always, but the package is bulked up with power-user tools usually reserved for businesses, and with the welcome addition of PGPdisk, a unique disk encryption tool.

PGP pioneered public key cryptography, which requires each user to make a keypair--a personal digital ID consisting of a private key and a public key. You use the private key to make digital signatures or unlock messages sent by others using your public key.

You can configure version 6.0 to require virtually no user intervention beyond a passphrase (which can consist of several words, providing more security than a single password could). I checked out a shipping version.

PGPkeys has an improved key-generation wizard and a friendly icon bar for managing keys you collect. You can now automate online searches for new public keys. Parents can make kids' keys sign-only, permitting a child to generate a digital signature to prove he or she sent their own homework, but disallowing secret e-mail correspondence. Parents can also retain the ability to revoke a child's keys if necessary.

PGPtools, the desktop drag-and-drop encryption toolbar, has more secure file and folder deletion. A new Wipe Free Space command exceeds military specs in clearing sensitive file fragments from temporary files or the Recycle Bin.

To secure e-mail, plug-ins add PGP buttons to Eudora; Exchange; and Outlook 97, 98, or Express. (A plug-in for Lotus Notes is due to come out by spring.) You can sign, encrypt, and decrypt text from other applications (AOL, Microsoft Word, Excel, and so forth) by copying it to the clipboard and using the PGPtray taskbar menu.

The addition of PGPdisk 2.0 alone makes the suite worth the upgrade for anyone with a laptop, nosy kids, or keyboarding pets. The first truly transparent high-security tool, PGPdisk creates encrypted virtual partitions of any size, in which you can store files you wish to secure. These so-called volumes behave exactly like normal drives, working in real time so that you can use the files--even huge audio-video ones--while at the same time keeping them secure.

One major complaint: Network Associates' tech support wasn't great. The techs are smart (if you can reach one), but there's no toll-free number, and the phone menus are confusing and inaccurate. Fortunately, the printed and on-screen documentation gets an A+, with clear explanations of cryptography for new users.

PGP for Personal Privacy 6.0 costs $40 and, like its recent predecessors, uses the Diffie-Hellmann (DH) key encoding formula. If a friend still runs PGP under DOS, Win 3.x, or UNIX, you can add support for RSA keys for $20 extra. PGP continues to be trustworthy: All source code is published, so there are no "back doors." The number of PGP public keys is close to 4 million and growing, so you'll find plenty of friends with whom you can exchange private e-mail and files.

SUMMARY

PGP for Personal Privacy 6.0 PRO: Smooth integration, transparent disk security, strong encryption, excellent documentation. CON: Hard-to-reach tech support, no toll-free number. VALUE: Friendly, low-cost, full-strength personal security toolkit. $40 (RSA capability $20 extra) Network Associates 408/988-3832 www.pgp.com