NULL passphrase. Secure?

[Daniel Carrera]

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Hi all,

While we are on the topic of simplifying GPG for average users, I have a=20
question.  For the purposes of the average user, who doesn't really have=20
much to hide and need not worry about impersonation, how bad would it be=20
to have a null passphrase?

A null passphrase means that all an attacker needs to do is obtain the=20
private key from the victim's hard drive.  How difficult is that?  Is it=20
difficult enough that regular users can afford to not worry about it?

Thanks.
--=20
Daniel Carrera         | OpenPGP fingerprint:
Graduate TA, Math Dept | 9B32 660B 0557 7D7D 5892 0036 D591 4D05 2938 1B7E
UMD  (301) 405-5137    | http://www.math.umd.edu/~dcarrera/pgp.html

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