how-to-make-email-trustworthy-encryption-6

How to be certain that email has come from a particular person?


keywords: muttmail reader,
public key cryptography[1]

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from DR. ASHOK KOPARDAY Medical Director Samadhan Sexual Sciences
to anita_usa@gmail.com
date Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 10:36 PM
subject [help on mobile] convert-indian-language-to-any-other-indian-language-using-b...
mailed-by blogger.bounces.google.com

VIII. Understanding The Need For Message Signatures The first reason for message signatures is authenticity. It is a largely unknown fact that the From: header of email can be trivially forged. A quick glance can lead you to believe that the mail was sent by someone who might not have had anything to do with the message. A signature will help you determine if the mail was really sent by who you think it was sent by. The second reason for signatures is integrity. Someone who has access to any piece of mail that is waiting for you (perhaps at your ISP) can change the message. This could affect something as simple as where you should meet someone to something as serious as which bank account you should transfer money to. A signature can tell you if the message was modified between the sender and your mail client.

This document
will explain the need for signing and how to sign messages, how to
verify signatures on mail sent to you, how to encrypt messages, and how
to decrypt messages. 
Theft of your private key by anyone means theft of your identity.  In anincreasingly digital world, your private key will soon carry as muchweight as a photo ID, and in some situations already carries more.  

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      Everything You Need To Know To Start Using GnuPG with Mutt

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             By Justin R. Miller 

              Revision 0.1, Released 23 September 2001

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     I. Purpose
    II. Overview
   III. Assumptions
    IV. Configuring GnuPG
     V. Protecting Your Private Key
    VI. Publicizing Your Public Key
   VII. Understanding Validity and Your Web of Trust
  VIII. Understanding The Need For Message Signatures
    IX. Understanding How Signatures Are Made
     X. Understanding How Encryption Is Done
    XI. A Practical Example of Manual Key Management
   XII. A Practical Example of Manual Signing and Verification
  XIII. A Practical Example of Manual Encryption and Decryption
   XIV. Configuring Mutt For Use With GnuPG
    XV. Trying It All Out
   XVI. Links For More Information
  XVII. Contributors
 XVIII. Feedback

On Fast Track
with
Dr. Ashok Koparday