GPG and PGP

[vedaal at nym.hush.com]

Gloria.Teo at bit.admin.ch Gloria.Teo at bit.admin.ch wrote on
Mon Mar 14 11:23:26 CET 2011 :

>gpg:  epflpepfl": preference for cipher algorithm 1

Cipher Algorithm 1 is IDEA, and was used as a default cipher for 
RSA keys by 6.5.8

GnuPG does not use IDEA although it will accept the IDEA module.


>You need a passphrase to unlock the secret key for
user: "epflpepfl"
1024-bit DSA key, ID B5AC473D, created 2003-01-09

This is unusual, because the 6.5.8 default cipher for a DSA key is 
CAST5, not IDEA, unless you specifically set up 6.5.8 to use IDEA 
even for DSA keys.

Be that as it may, there are two ways you can unlock your secret 
key:

[1] If you have an existing workable 6.5.8 on any machine, use it 
to edit the key, and REMOVE the passphrase, then import it into 
GnupG and edit it again to set the passphrase, then, once you're 
satisfied that that works, delete any copies of the key that had 
the passphrase removed.


[2] Use GnuPG with the IDEA module.

IDEA.dll can be downloaded from Disastry's preserved site:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/uiuc/disastry/gpg.htm
(btw, Disastry is the one who wrote the IDEA.dll module, 
specifically to bridge the gap between gnupg and pgp users.)

(a) Copy idea.dll into your gnupg home directory
(b) add the following line to your gpg.conf
load-extension 'pathway to your gnupg home directory'/idea.dll

(backward slash '\' if you're doing this on windows)

(c) save gpg.conf
(d) open gnupg, and at the prompt, type gpg -h

gnupg should then list the following;

Supported algorithms:
Pubkey: RSA, RSA-E, RSA-S, ELG-E, DSA
Cipher: IDEA (S1), 3DES (S2), CAST5 (S3), BLOWFISH (S4), AES (S7), 
AES192 (S8), AES256 (S9), TWOFISH (S10), CAMELLIA128 (S11), 
CAMELLIA192 (S12), CAMELLIA256 (S13)

If IDEA is listed, then  everything you want to do will work.
(Don't worry if CAMEllIA isn't listed, it just means you aren't 
using the latest version of GnuPG.)


vedaal