Newsweek on PGPfone

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

   Newsweek, August 28, 1995, p. 10.


   Encryption: Pretty Good Phone Privacy

      [Photo] 'This is what I do': Cryptomaster Zimmermann


   In the wake of reports that the Clinton Administration is
   considering another Clipper-like scheme to ensure
   government access to encrypted conversations and e-mail,
   Phil Zimmermann is striking again. The 41-year-old author
   of the notorious PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) software program
   that scrambles e-mail so snoops can't read it is about to
   release a sequel: PGPfone, which allows people to use their
   computers as secure telephones. If you have a recent
   Macintosh (a Windows verson comes next month) and a fast
   modem, you and a friend can speak in total privacy. As with
   its predecessor, Zimmermann is giving the software away,
   via MIT's Internet sites. Meanwhile, he's still waiting to
   hear whether the Feds will indict him for export violations
   in the distribution of PGP. Does Zimmermann worry that
   releasing PGPfone -- which can theoretically frustrate law-
   enforcement wiretaps -- will further inflame those who wish
   him arrested? "I'm a cryptographer, " he says. "This is
   what I do."

   [End]