INBOX: BEFORE PGP

FROM: ALICE@EXAMPLE

PROJECT ORBIT

MEET AT THE LIBRARY AT 18:00

LOCAL OUTBOX → RELAY-01 → RELAY-02 → BOB'S INBOX

TRY THIS: watch readable example text cross fictional mail hops.

No visitor identity or real secret is created.

Public material can be shared. Private material remains in the local key store.

Select a key to inspect its short ID and full fingerprint.

A matching name alone is not identity verification.

MESSAGE
PROJECT ORBIT

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FAST SYMMETRIC ENCRYPTION
CIPHERTEXT

RECIPIENT PUBLIC KEY
WRAPS SESSION KEY

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SELECT A MODE TO ASSEMBLE PACKAGE

Two keys claim to be ALICE. Compare the complete fingerprint through an appropriate independent channel.

SELECT A KEY, THEN VERIFY.

1991PGP is released for personal computers.
1990sZimmermann investigation and export-control controversy sharpen public debate.
1990sSource publication, software distribution, and civil liberties become prominent questions.
late 1990s–2000U.S. mass-market export restrictions were broadly relaxed, while policy debates continued.

CRYPTOGRAPHY BECAME A QUESTION OF PRIVACY, CIVIL LIBERTIES, COMMERCE, SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTION, AND POLICY.