FW: Encrypting with a venders public key

[Mestack, Jim B.]

Right - Good Idea...

-----Original Message-----
From: Leigh S. Jones, KR6X [mailto:kr6x@kr6x.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 12:40 PM
To: Mestack, Jim B.
Subject: Re: Encrypting with a venders public key


Great!  Tell the list so that 100 more people don't write in...

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mestack, Jim B." <JMestack@mc.utmck.edu>
To: "'Leigh S. Jones, KR6X'" <kr6x@kr6x.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 09:38
Subject: RE: Encrypting with a venders public key


> Thanks Leigh, We got it to encrypt using egd.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Leigh S. Jones, KR6X [mailto:kr6x@kr6x.com]
> Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 12:03 PM
> To: gnupg-users@gnupg.org
> Subject: Re: Encrypting with a venders public key
>
>
> In order to encrypt a file, it is necessary to generate a random
> number for use as an encryption key.  No, this is not the public
> key that your vendor provided.  It's called a session key, and
> is much smaller than the public key, often 168 bits for 3DES
> or 128 bits for many other ciphers.  The session key is a
> symmetric key, and it is encrypted with the public key and then
> sent along with the encrypted file for use in decryption.  The
> session key is decrypted using the secret key that matches
> the public key, and then used to perform the actual decryption.
>
> But if the session key is not generated with a good random
> number generator then the quality of your encryption is poor.
>
> Your message indicates that gpg hasn't found a high quality
> random number generator.  It's been told to look for the random
> number generator at `/home/meuser/.gnupg/entropy'.  The
> solution is to place a random number generator at that location
> or to place a link at that location to the actual random number
> generator.
>
> As for random number generators, there has been recent
> discussion of the issue on the list.  But perhaps it would be
> a good idea to look into the entropy gathering daemon, egd.
> Or search the web (google.com?) for HPUX random number
> generators.  The info is out there, and I'm sure that some of
> the list members would be glad to reveal what they use and
> where it can be found.
>
> I'm running gpg1.0.6 on HPUX, but don't use it for encryption
> or for the creation of keys -- it's only used to create digital
> signatures.  So my own HPUX installation never had an
> RNG installed to gpg -- never needed one.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mestack, Jim B." <JMestack@mc.utmck.edu>
> To: <gnupg-users@gnupg.org>
> Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2002 07:35
> Subject: Encrypting with a venders public key
>
>
> > Hello, I am new to gpg, and have a July 1 deadline.  We have just
> installed
> > it on an HPUX machine.
> >
> > I have downloaded one of our vendors public key's and --import fine.
> >
> > But when I attempt to encrypt a file using their key, I get the
following
> > error:
> > gpg -r securekey --always-trust -o 20020627.gpg -e 20020627.opt
> >
> > gpg: fatal: can't connect to `/home/meuser/.gnupg/entropy': No such file
> or
> > diry
> > secmem usage: 2400/2400 bytes in 5/5 blocks of pool 2400/16384
> >
> > Can someone please help identify what this means and what I need to do
to
> > get it functioning.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > James Mestack
> > Interface Programmer/Analyst
> > Cloverleaf, Datagate, Visual Basic, Cerner Millennium
> >
> > UT Health Systems, Inc.
> > University of Tennessee Medical Center
> > 9000 Executive Park Drive
> > Building D, Suite 100
> > Knoxville, TN  37923-4685
> > (865) 251-3717
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Gnupg-users mailing list
> > Gnupg-users@gnupg.org
> > http://lists.gnupg.org/mailman/listinfo/gnupg-users
> >
>
>
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