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PGP & GPG: Email for the Practical Paranoid 1st Edition

by Michael W Lucas (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 36 ratings
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OpenPGP is the most widely used email encryption standard in the world. It is based on PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) as originally developed by Phil Zimmermann. The OpenPGP protocol defines standard formats for encrypted messages, signatures, and certificates for exchanging public keys.

PGP & GPG is an easy-to read, informal tutorial for implementing electronic privacy on the cheap using the standard tools of the email privacy field - commercial PGP and non-commercial GnuPG (GPG). The book shows how to integrate these OpenPGP implementations into the most common email clients and how to use PGP and GPG in daily email correspondence to both send and receive encrypted email.

The PGP & GPG book is written for the moderately skilled computer user who is unfamiliar with public key cryptography but who is nevertheless interested in guarding their email privacy. Lucas's trademark informal and relaxed tone makes public key cryptography as simple and clear as possible, so that any reasonably savvy computer user can understand it.

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  1. ISBN-10
    1593270712
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1593270711
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    No Starch Press
  5. Publication date
    April 1, 2006
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6 x 0.75 x 8.75 inches
  8. Print length
    216 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"An excellent book that shows . . . just about everything [you] need to know to effectively and properly use PGP and OpenPGP." -- Slashdot, June 26, 2006

"Buy and read this book to gain a better understanding of how to protect and secure . . . messages from unauthorized viewing." -- About.com, June 12, 2006

From the Back Cover

"...The World's first user-friendly book on email privacy...unless you're a cryptographer, or never use email, you should read this book." Len Sassaman, CodeCon Founder

"Today, most email is sent like a postcard. We all should want to put our mail back into secure envelopes again. PGP and GPG are two of the leading tools to make that happen." Brad Templeton, Chairman of the Board, Electronic Frontier Foundation

Governments worldwide, major manufacturers, medical facilities, and many of the smartest computer experts around trust their secure communications to PGP (Pretty Good Privacy). But, while PGP works amazingly when all is in order, it isn t always easy to configure and can be very tricky to troubleshoot. And email security is hardly the sort of thing you want to leave to chance.

PGP & GPG: Email for the Practical Paranoid is for moderately skilled geeks who are unfamiliar with public-key cryptography but who want to protect their communications on the cheap. Author Michael Lucas offers this easy-to-read, informal tutorial on PGP, so you can dive in right away.

Inside, you ll learn:
How to integrate OpenPGP with the most common email clients (like Outlook and Thunderbird)
How to use the tricky command-line versions of these programs
How to join and use the Web of Trust

If you're not using PGP yet, this book supplies the confidence you need to get started. And if you are, it will show you how to use these tools more easily and effectively.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ No Starch Press; 1st edition (April 1, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 216 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1593270712
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1593270711
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.75 x 8.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 36 ratings

About the author

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Michael W. Lucas

Michael W. Lucas

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Author of about forty books, Michael W Lucas is a full-time writer from Detroit, Michigan. Learn more at https://mwl.io.

“One of the best technical writers in the networking and security environments.” – Midwest Book Review

"Michael Lucas is probably the best system administration author I've read. I am amazed that he can communicate top-notch content with a sense of humor, while not offending the reader or sounding stupid. When was the last time you could physically feel yourself getting smarter while reading a book?" -- Richard Bejtlich, TaoSecurity

"For me, reading this book was like having one of the guys in my company who lives and breathes Cisco sitting down with me for a day and explaining everything I need to know to handle problems or issues likely to come my way. There may be many additional things I could potentially learn about my Cisco switches, but likely few I'm likely to encounter in my environment." -- IT World

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
36 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Mel Beckman
5.0 out of 5 stars The essential guide to Open PGP for email
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2006
Verified Purchase
Pretty Good Privacy and Phil Zimmerman are computer counterculture legends. By putting secure communication into the hands of anyone with a computer, Zimmerman both launched a revolution and stirred the ire of the U.S. government. After suffering under -- and prevailing over -- severe FBI harassment and malicious prosecution, Zimmerman and his open PGP encryption tool have demolished government attempts to control cryptography. After sixteen years, PGP still has no equal as an enabler of private communication.

This book focuses on the use of PGP as an email encryption tool, although PGP can be used as a general purpose file encryption utility as well. After summarizing the history of PGP and the Open PGP standard, author Michael Lucas clearly and concisely describes how public key encryption with Open PGP can secure routine email messages. This is a how-to guide that gives you the essential understanding you need to quickly make practical use of PGP and its non-commercial cousin Gnu Privacy Guard (GPG).

Lucas' exposition explains PGP better than any previously published treatment -- either in print or online -- I've read. If you need to encrypt, you need to encrypt with PGP. Which means you need this book.
5 people found this helpful
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Ernest F. Przybyla
4.0 out of 5 stars PGP & GPG
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2016
Verified Purchase
Given as a gift to replace one that was never returned to a relative. He was happy to have this item restored to his reference materials.
One person found this helpful
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Dr. Moses Olson, MD
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2019
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Amazing book
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Andrea Pacelli
3.0 out of 5 stars Good as an introduction, but nothing more
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2007
Verified Purchase
This is a concise introduction to email encryption for people who don't care about prime numbers. It nicely covers all real-life topics users of PGP and GPG are likely to be interested in. Two problems: First, there is a substantial number of typos, as if the book had never been proofread. There is a significant error in chapter 4 -- if you follow the instructions for generating new keys using the command-line (Unix) version of GPG, you will end up with un-usable keys (without subkeys). Accept all default values and you will have no problems. Second, since the book covers several specific versions of PGP and GPG, the user of any specific version will only use 50% of the book at best (and the book is a slim one to start with). As a result, this book should be considered as a basic introduction only, to be read once and never looked at again.
9 people found this helpful
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Hugo Alvarado
5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice and easy introduction to PGP and Gnu PG
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2015
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Very nice and easy introduction to PGP and Gnu PG. Explanation of key topics was great, overall it is a great book.
One person found this helpful
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C. Green
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Primer
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2009
Verified Purchase
This is an excellent starter book for anyone who is unfamiliar with PGP. Covers all the basics and doesn't assume you know stuff.
2 people found this helpful
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Paul Scott
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Start Guide for PGP & GPG Encryption
Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2008
Verified Purchase
This is a great book if you want to understand the history and background of email encryption and a good place to get started on PGP & GPG email. A good overview is great if you need to explain the importance to a client.
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D. Moonen
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2018
Verified Purchase
I've 75% of his ouvre
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Top reviews from other countries

John Dexter
3.0 out of 5 stars Great...BUT
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 4, 2011
Verified Purchase
Michael Lucas certainly knows his stuff when it comes to encrypting email and he imparts his wisdom with a light, uncomplicated style that makes this book an easy and enjoyable read. As an introductory text on the subject, it's difficult to imagine a better single-source of information for anyone considering encrypting their private information before sending it across the public network.

Lucas takes his readers through the installation and configuration of his two chosen encryption programs (PGP & GPG) and provides useful insights and excellent practical advice throughout. There's also a brief (but fascinating) introduction to the origins of PGP as well as absorbing discussions on key management and the principles that underpin the web of trust concept. But (and this is quite a big but), there are problems with this book that make it questionable as to whether the cover price represents value-for-money.

Firstly, this really is an introductory text and, unless the reader is a complete computer novice, much of this book is pointless: most users will already know how to install a program using the default installation settings (or know enough to be able to follow the installation wizard) and therefore, the significant portion of the book that describes these processes seems somewhat redundant. That's not to say that there is no useful information in the descriptions (for instance, using hashes or checksums to confirm the integrity of the download), only that too much time is spent describing processes that will be patently obvious to virtually everyone that reads this book.

Then, there's the layout: Lucas glibly skips from discussing one program to another in alternate chapters and this has a calamitous impact on the text's rhythm. In fairness, Lucas does warn his readers that they can skip the chapters that are not germane to their circumstances, but that's not entirely helpful to reader with either a general interest in the topic or is concerned with multiple operating platforms or single encryption programs. Perhaps a better approach would have been to separate the contents into three sections allowing readers to have an overview of the subject followed by comprehensive (and uninterrupted) discussions about each encryption program.

Finally, Lucas provides no information here that is not freely available on the Internet: for instance, try searching online using the simple text string, "installation guide PGP". That there are alternative sources of information is not a problem per se, nor is the fact that many comparable guides are available free-of-charge; however, it does make the near twenty quid cover price extravagant!

If you're too lazy to find your own sources and have some money to burn, this is a great introduction to encryption.
3 people found this helpful
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Pete_Nrth
4.0 out of 5 stars PGP & GPG : Email For The Practical Paranoid Review
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 24, 2014
Verified Purchase
An excellent resource for those new to the crypto world or as a refresher for slightly more experienced users. The writing style is easy to follow and doesn't treat the reader like a fool, gradually explaining the background to PGP with the odd touch of humour which doesn't detract from the overall pace.

This guide helped reinforce what I'd already come to know and introduced a few other aspects of PGP key usage that I'd neglected to follow such as setting key expiration dates.

Easy to read with useful illustrations. Recommended.
2 people found this helpful
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