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Home Blog Technology No Cost PGP Solution
No Cost PGP Solution
Written by Fred Thiele   
Thursday, 27 September 2007 09:15
I'm always looking for a good open source implementations of common commercial software. The latest mission, an open source PGP Desktop replacement. I have known about GPG for quite some time and it works fine for a command line utility. However, I'm looking for an easily usable front-end replacement. There has been substantial work done on many of the "front-end" Windows products for GPG and I found exactly what I was looking for in GPG4Win.

GPG4Win is an install shield for Windows that consists of the following open source packages (cut directly from the GPG4Win Webstie):

GnuPG - The core; this is the actual encryption too
GnuPG2
WinPT - A key manager and helper for various encryption matters
GPA -  Another key manager, tasts are simply different
GPGol -  A plugin for Microsoft Outlook 2003 (email encryption)
GPGee -  A plugin for Microsoft Explorer (file encryption)
Claws Mail - A complete email program including the plugin for GnuPG
Gpg4win for Novices - A handbook specifically for newbies
Gpg4win für Durchblicker - A (German!) handbook about some background, for beginners

I will admit that I was skeptical at first; seeing the list of many different open source tools that supposedly worked together. But the truth is, the package installs perfectly, everything sets up the way it should and it even runs in Vista! My testing thus far shows that GPG4Win is compatible with PGP Desktop, so I can send someone my key from WinPT (the key management tool) and they can import it into PGP Desktop with no issues. The developers have done a great job integrating many open source tools into one package.

Here are some features I like about GPG4Win:
  • Simple to use
  • Integrates into Windows tray as well as Outlook 2007
  • Hotkeys!
  • Ability to easily search public keystores for other people's keys
  • It's free!

Here are some features about PGP Desktop that I didn't find in GPG4Win
  • Self extracting EXE files (for clients that don't have a PGP solution)
  • PGP Disk encryption
  • Integration into shell so when you right click on a file, you get a GPG4Win menu
  • A multi-pass secure erase application
  • Instant messaging encryption
  • Compatibility with Lotus Notes and other e-mail clients
  • Enterprise-level integration
If you're looking for just email PGP functionality, GPG4Win provides a very good alternative to PGP Desktop. However, if you or your enterprise is in need of many features, such as secure erase, instant messaging encryption and PGP disk encryption, you may need to look into PGP Desktop.

In all, I recommend checking out GPG4Win as it seems like a viable (and free) alternative to PGP Desktop that integrates well with Windows Vista and Outlook 2007.
 

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