Portable PGP Reviews

I have only used it one time but used a 4096 bit encryption key from another source and was able to encrypt and decrypt a file with no problems. Installation was simple and straightforward. Only reason for four stars is simply because I have not used it enough. I will change the value up to five stars if we keep having consistent results using the application. Great work so far!

When error : > key invalid : illegal key size or default parameters Go to oracle.com and search for : Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) "Accept" to download jce_policy-8.zip Unzip and place it into .../jre/lib/security/

The portable version is not capable of importing old PGP keypairs. Further, it requires an additional install of Java(TM) Cryptography Extension, or generating a keypair will fail. The automated windows installer does not check or ask if there is a java installed and running and downloads a JRE without asking. Unwanted behavior! Rated because it is required, have not yet tried the program.

I agree with the reviewer about the weakness in only allowing 1024 bit keys and the weakness in using ElGamal as the alternative. However, I can generate keys elsewhere (a very infrequent need) and importing these keys is a snap. The most important function to me is that it can encrypt/decrypt conveniently and this it most certainly does. Despite the downside, I'm giving it 4 stars because there's a workaround for the weakness and it's not the major function..

Works great - super easy alternative when I am on the go and don't have any other method to encrypt and decrypt a file.

I would have loved this software. Small size for standalone edition and works on many systems. Unfortunately it dostn give many options regarding Key size and only allow Elgamel which i believe my search has revealed has been compromised. And ontop of that it seems keys with only 1024bit encryption has been to easy to break on modern day computer according to forums. Updating to 4096bit key and possibility to use a better option than Elgamel would be a sure 4/5 star software simply for being portable/safe.

I extracted the files to the root directory of a usb stick. A folder named: usb_version was created in the process. If I run the PortablePGP.sh script, thats in the usb_version directory #!/bin/sh cd .ppgp ./jre/bin/java -jar PortablePGP.jar I get a GUI Dialog informing me the my volume contains software intended to be automatically started. Would you like to run it? If I select run I get "Oops! Unable to locate the program" Looking in ./jre/bin/ I see a file named java there. and PortablePGP.jar is in the .ppgp directory. I don't know anything about Java or running portable apps designed to work on multiple OS's. A readme file with a simple overview of how to run this software above and beyond the "Extract to root directory of usb stick", would be a big help.

@ Guru182, I could use my own keys generated with gpg commandline(with more than 1024bit) and copy them in the portablePGP folder. Renaming pubring.gpg to public.bpg and secring.gpg to private.bpg . Nevertheless I understand you

Stalls decrypting large files to multiple recipients. Author does not reply to emails.

The authors appear either unwilling (or unable) to fix the glaring security problems with this software, i.e. the use of keys a maximum size of 1024-bits, and continued use of DSA/Elgamal, which key format has been deprecated. Starting in 2009, 3 years ago now, both the PGP and Gnu Privacy Guard (GPG) developers made a decision to abandon the DSA/Elgamal key format, change the default key type to RSA, and change the default key-size to 2048-bits. All this was done for security reasons. The American standards authority NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) published a report which recommended that 1024-bit keys be abandoned by the end of December, 2010. That recommendation became effective 18 months ago, yet we still see Portable PGP using the now-deprecated DSA/Elgamal key format, and the obsolete key-size of 1024-bits. NIST is reponsible for establishing standards for U.S. government computers. NIST is notoriously conservative when it comes to security, and usually very reluctant to make changes. This should come as no surprise, given the thousands of computers that are operated any of the hundreds of agencies in the U.S. government that would be affected by any standards they set. So, when NIST, PGP, Inc., and the GPG developers ALL recommend the same course of action, there's gotta be a problem. Until this software is brought up to current standards, it should NOT be used, period.

Sorry for the late update. Version 1.0.7 now works with Windows 7 (Java 6 and 7, also x64), Ubuntu/OpenJDK (also x64), and Mac OS X.

Would not start. Incompatible with Windows 7 and Java 1.7.

No help, no instructions how to use it