This is a pretty interesting progression in the encryption field, I’m pretty sure most of us here will use some kind of key based e-mail encryption (PGP\/GPG etc) and various different software based implementations.<\/p>\n
Or perhaps some of you already use something totally web-based like Hushmail, the story is that researchers in Germany have managed to develop a JavaScript implementation of OpenPGP that allows you to both encrypt and decrypt messages purely in the webmail interface with Google Chrome<\/a> and Gmail<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pretty neat eh?<\/p>\n Researchers from German security firm Recurity Labs have released a JavaScript implementation of the OpenPGP specification that allows users to encrypt and decrypt webmail messages.<\/p>\n Called GPG4Browsers, the tool functions as an extension for Google Chrome and now is capable of working with Gmail.<\/p>\n According to its developers, GPG4Browsers is a prototype, but it supports almost all asymmetric and symmetric ciphers and hash functions specified in the OpenPGP standard.<\/p>\n The OpenPGP specification uses public key cryptography to encrypt and digitally sign messages and other data. It is based on the original PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) program and is most commonly used for securing email communications.<\/p>\n Setting up a PGP variant to work with a particular email client on a local computer can prove troublesome for less technical users, not to mention that it’s not portable. A PGP user who wants to send and receive encrypted emails from a different computer, would have to install it on that system first, import his private and public keys into the local database, known as the keyring, and then configure his email client.<\/p>\n The benefits of a JavaScript-based implementation that runs inside the browser is that it doesn’t require a dedicated email client or other software installed on the computer. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n I have to admit, setting up key based e-mail cryptography to work seamlessly…is not for the faint of heart. Even for the more technical user, it can be quite a pain in the arse.<\/p>\n That’s a pretty high entry barrier for the average Joe and stops pretty much everyone else from encrypting their emails. Something more seamless (and totally portable) like this JavaScript implementation could open up key-based e-mail encryption for the masses.<\/p>\n