ViaCrypt PGP 4.0 for Windows shipping

I have not seen this here yet, so sorry if you have seen it...

ViaCrypt is claiming that they are now shipping the Windows version of their
PGP 4.0.  (I tend to not believe marketing claims until I hear from people
who actually have it.)

Does anyone know if there are plans for this version to be interoperable
with PGP 3.0?

Furthermore, has anyone tried the new version?
---
Alan Olsen -- alano@teleport.com -- Contract Web Design & Instruction
        `finger -l alano@teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key 
                http://www.teleport.com/~alano/ 
  "We had to destroy the Internet in order to save it." - Sen. Exon

On Tue, 26 Mar 1996, Alan Olsen wrote:

> ViaCrypt is claiming that they are now shipping the Windows version of their
> PGP 4.0.  (I tend to not believe marketing claims until I hear from people
> who actually have it.)

Note that ViaCrypt is now using its own version numbers.  PGP 4.0 is 
really the same crypto engine as in 2.7.1, but with some new features.

> 
> Does anyone know if there are plans for this version to be interoperable
> with PGP 3.0?
> 

I asked about that, but the answer was indefinite.  I'd say "no."


> Furthermore, has anyone tried the new version?

Yes.  We were one of the beta sites for it.  There are actually two new 
versions of ViaCrypt PGP 4.0:  A business edition and a personal 
edition.  Essentially, there's a bunch more key management features and 
some new windows features.  In the business edition, you can configure it 
so that keys are essentially "escrowed" in that it will always add "the 
company" to the list of recipients.  Thus, your company can read your 
traffic if they want to.  This was at the request of many businesses who 
stated that they wanted to use PGP, but that they needed some means of 
escrowing the keys.

What's really interesting is what ViaCrypt has planned for even later 
releases: support for DSS (and SHA), DES, triple DES, multiple key rings, 
PC Card token support, provision for large key certificate databases, 
integration with X.509 structures, and a high performance single pass 
mode of operation.  

ViaCrypt put up some marketing stuff on their web page.  Try:
http://www.viacrypt.com/

 > ---
> Alan Olsen -- alano@teleport.com -- Contract Web Design & Instruction
>         `finger -l alano@teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key 
>                 http://www.teleport.com/~alano/ 
>   "We had to destroy the Internet in order to save it." - Sen. Exon
> 
> 

------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
|      Liberty is truly dead              |Mark Aldrich                 | 
|    when the slaves are willing          |GRCI INFOSEC Engineering     | 
|     to forge their own chains.          |maldrich@grci.com            | 
|        STOP THE CDA NOW!                |MAldrich@dockmaster.ncsc.mil | 
|_______________________________________________________________________| 
|The author is PGP Empowered.  Public key at:  finger maldrich@grci.com |
|    The opinions expressed herein are strictly those of the author     | 
|         and my employer gets no credit for them whatsoever.           | 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 
> I have not seen this here yet, so sorry if you have seen it...
> 
> ViaCrypt is claiming that they are now shipping the Windows version of their
> PGP 4.0.  (I tend to not believe marketing claims until I hear from people
> who actually have it.)
> 
> Does anyone know if there are plans for this version to be interoperable
> with PGP 3.0?
> 
> Furthermore, has anyone tried the new version?
> ---
> Alan Olsen -- alano@teleport.com -- Contract Web Design & Instruction

I've got the Viacrypt Business Edition for Windows. It arrived late last
week. I don't think the personal edition is shipping yet.
 
The business edition adds features for corporate key escrow and limiting 
features available to users. I've just started playing with the software, but
it looks like some of the user control features are implemented using 
security through obscurity. The windows implementation is ok, but does 
not include DDE or OLE. The floating toolbar looks useful.

4.0 will interoperate with current versions of PGP as long as a normal 
key is generated. 4.0 allows for generation of keys limited to signing or 
encryption. These keys will not interoperate with current versions of PGP.

I'll know more as I use the software. If anyone has any specific 
question, feel free to ask.

Ron McCoy
Rmccoy@mercury.interpath.com

And I am new here, so doubly sorry for the same reason.  But I was 
corresponding with Via Crypt on this same point and here is a copy of 
what they sent me.  

>From barnhart@viacrypt.comWed Mar 27 05:22:25 1996
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 12:08:49 -0700
From: "Dave Barnhart, ViaCrypt Product Manager" <barnhart@viacrypt.com>
To: moen@cyberspace.com

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

Dear Sir:

Eric Nesson here at ViaCrypt has shared your email inquiry with me, and I
thought I should contact you to provide you with some clarification and more
information.

The post you read on alt.security.pgp is in reference to *new types of keys*
that ViaCrypt PGP can create.  This means that, in addition to the PGP keys
that we have all been using for a long time now, ViaCrypt PGP can also create
keys with some special attributes.It is these *new types of keys* that are not
recognized by the existing freeware PGP.

You can continue to use your existing keys with ViaCrypt PGP 4.0.  And you can
create new keys that are fully interoperable with all the older PGP's out
there.  It is only when you generate a new key and turn on one of these special
attributes that it becomes unrecognizable by the existing freeware PGP.

These special attributes I refer to are:

1. "This key can be used for encryption/decryption only.  It cannot be used for
digital signatures."
2. "This key can be used for digital signatures only.  It cannot be used for
encryption/decryption."

We call keys with this special attributes 'single-function keys'.

I hope this answers your questions.  If not please do not hesitate to ask.

Best Regards,
David Barnhart
ViaCrypt Product Manager

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 4.0 Business Edition

iQEVAwUBMVg4u3hUuWjy7vyrAQEG9ggAnfOGI9tkYa8/W66UvTb+7TBmzHbiPPYw
1J8iBOp+Uj75hxUhr9gY45IUZtcqYHLHCECVpoqcLU2iJsVqMKhv5ohmiTYHEW4Z
xYzbO5lpWqL3rkSMRZK/pXnlumfZTuS94jY9bKyn0dDCqeZ2p7UtAE7/HD7DoAIj
4tMnyNxZxvo0IoxPOCxOTKgdrSB3/KxJWZSAWUPvzNBU+XTpfXu4LvI0sZKOS9Nr
0jEUUwmmrawldei31w916Zc20hmHsP6rOfSaiC5n/03ZXgW976q1sBViDAdwuuPP
ktsCrAB5A2MxuYve1XVVRXwPc7rLN4T4RHqUcKgw4nvnbiKmGYcliA==
=OFTV
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

  


On Tue, 26 Mar 1996, Alan Olsen wrote:

> I have not seen this here yet, so sorry if you have seen it...
> 
> ViaCrypt is claiming that they are now shipping the Windows version of their
> PGP 4.0.  (I tend to not believe marketing claims until I hear from people
> who actually have it.)
> 
> Does anyone know if there are plans for this version to be interoperable
> with PGP 3.0?
> 
> Furthermore, has anyone tried the new version?
> ---
> Alan Olsen -- alano@teleport.com -- Contract Web Design & Instruction
>         `finger -l alano@teleport.com` for PGP 2.6.2 key 
>                 http://www.teleport.com/~alano/ 
>   "We had to destroy the Internet in order to save it." - Sen. Exon
> 
> 
>

Alan Olsen <alano@teleport.com> wrote:

>I have not seen this here yet, so sorry if you have seen it...

>ViaCrypt is claiming that they are now shipping the Windows version of their
>PGP 4.0.  (I tend to not believe marketing claims until I hear from people
>who actually have it.)

I have had my ViaCrypt PGP version 4.0 for windows for 1 week.

>Does anyone know if there are plans for this version to be interoperable
>with PGP 3.0?

It is *supposed* to be interoperable with all PGP versions 2.6 and later.

>Furthermore, has anyone tried the new version?

I have used it, but so far have not been able to communicate with anyone
that is using PGP 2.6.2.  I have communicated with ViaCrypt and they are
researching the problem.  Yes, I used the option that is supposed to make
the key interoperable with PGP 2.6.2.  I followed the instructions in the book
and the security note.  Even did it again (generated a new key) just to make
sure I did it correctly, still no go!  

I will not blame ViaCrypt until I know if it is my fault or not!

BTW, I'm using the Business Edition.



jdcooley@ix.netcom.com
////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Always do right.  This will
gratify some people and astonish
           the rest.
                    Mark Twain
////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
PGP Public Key available upon request