June 3, 2004 v1.1.9
Originally posted January 2, 2001
See legal stuff below before downloading anything
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PGPFone - Voice Encryption for the Rest of us.
Table of Contents
PGPFONE21I.ZIP is PGP for voice PC to PC over the Internet. PGPFone is totally free with no adware. PGPFone works in Windows 95/98/NT/2000. PGPFone can also be found at the International PGP Home Page. If you don't already know, PGP is the most popular form of encryption for email on the Internet. PGPFone was written by the same people who wrote PGP. If you need to speak to someone and the conversation absolutely (positively) must be secure, PGPFone is what you need. It is a simple to use program. There is no installation routine. Simply unzip the contents into an empty folder and create a shortcut to PGPfone.exe on your DeskTop.
I have tested PGPFone several times. It works very well if you have at least a good 56K modem connection. Between 56K analog modems on good lines, your lag (round trip) time will stay below 700 ms. This is better than Net2Phone. Between a good 56K connection and a DSL or cable modem (digital), your lag will be below 500 ms. Between 2 digital connections, it should be below 250 ms and probably lower. I do not have a digital connection so I was never able to test it. You should have a Pentium-class CPU 200 MHz or faster.
Enjoy,
Please remove the NOSPAM's before using this address. If you email me, I prefer you use PGP encryption. This is my DH/DSS 4,096 bit key. Yahoo/GeoCities doesn't allow the PGP ASC extension. You can either copy the entire text and paste in PGPKeys or simply drag and drop the entire TXT file onto PGPKeys.
I have a few warnings. While these may seem inconvenient, keep in mind there are very few free voice encryption programs available. Among these PGPFone is the easiest to use. Also, an encrypted phone from AT&T or Motorola costs $3,500 and you need two to carry on a conversation. See note 1 below.
1. Do not use the Windows Taskbar AutoHide feature when using PGPFone. When the Taskbar moves, it interrupts PGPFone for an instant. PGPFone doesn't like these interruptions and will stop a conversation.
2. Do not use Norton System Doctor. PGPFone doesn't like this program, particularly if you use the NU SD AutoHide feature. In general, try to remove as many program as you can before using PGPFone.
3. Try not to use a firewall. If you use ZoneAlarm, you must initiate the call so ZoneAlarm can ask you to open the port. In ZoneAlarm, try to save the port information for your next use so you can receive a call.
4. Do not minimize PGPFone then choose "Close" on the PGPFone button on the Taskbar. If you do this by accident, when you restart PGPFone, it will be minimized and you will not be able to see the PGPFone window. On the Taskbar, right-click on the PGPFone button and choose Move. Move the cursor keys for a second, then move your mouse until you have centered PGPFone on your screen, then press <ENTER>.
These are the configuration directions. They are very simple. Start PGPFone from the shortcut on your DeskTop.
1. On the PGPFone menu, choose "View" and place a checkmark on both "Encoding" and "Statistics".
2. On the PGPFone main window, always slide the volume control to the maximum. The microphone control you see does not increase the microphone level. Leave it at minimum. If you must increase your microphone level, use your Windows microphone control. Do not touch the green triangle you see on the upper right. Leave that also at minimum.
3. On your PGPFone Edit > Preferences > Phone Tab, make sure all the boxes are checked. Put your name in the " Identity Name" box. For "Connection", select "Internet" so the circle is next to it. For "Voice Compression", make sure both are set at "GSM 7350 Hz". See note 2 below.
4. On the "Modem" tab, these settings are intended only for direct modem to modem connections (not Internet). However, to be sure, select the highest speeds under "Max Modem Speed" and "Port Speed". If you have an analog modem, select its correct com port. Leave the "Modem Init String" alone.
5. That's it. Don't touch the Encryption tab. However, under "Encryption" the "Preferred Algorithm" should be "CAST". Under "Encryption", all the boxes should be checked except "None". Under "Diffie-Hellman Primes", the "Preferred Prime" should be "2048". Under "Diffie-Hellman Primes", all the boxes should be checked except "768". All of these settings should already be there so don't change them. See note 3 below.
6. The "File Transfer" feature was never implemented.
7. Click OK to exit your preferences tabs and return to the main window.
1. I suggest you use headphones for privacy. Headphones also remove the "echo" you hear through computer speakers.
2. Obtain the IP of the other person you wish to call and paste it into the blank space on the main window. There are many ways to find your IP. PGPFone has your IP next to "Local IP" in the main window. It is usually correct. You can have the other person give it to you in chat or email. The Windows program C:\WINDOWS\WINIPCFG.EXE gives your IP. Finally, you can do an Internet Traceroute. There are many Internet Traceroutes. Here is a list. Traceroutes sometimes take up to 2 minutes. Allow it to finish. The IP in parentheses on the last line is your IP. It should match the Local IP in PGPFone. See note 4 below.
3. Click the "Connect" button directly below it. If the IP is correct and the other person has PGPFone waiting, you will hear exactly one ring. You may have to click this button again to connect (sorry, can't remember).
4. For the other person, this button will change to "Answer" and he must click it to pick up the call. He will also hear only one ring.
5. You may now speak to the other person. When you speak, the microphone level indicator will move in the upper right corner. If the level stays too low and never goes into the red, you may increase your microphone level through the Windows microphone level control on your Windows TaskBar on the right side: "Volume > Options > Properties > Recording > OK > Microphone". Do not touch the microphone control in the PGPFone main window. That is a filter, not a level control. Do not touch the green triangle below the microphone level indicator in PGPFone.
6. When you first connect, PGPFone uses encryption to exchange connection information. The type of encryption is always Diffie-Hellman (DH) and the strength of the encryption in bits is shown on the main window next to "Exchange". The number of bits should always be 2048 or larger. See note 3 below.
The type of streaming encryption in voice (when speaking) is shown next to "Encryption". It is usually "CAST".
To prevent "Man in the middle Attacks", someone pretending to be the other caller, an "Authenticate" window pops up to the right of the main PGPFone window. The "Authenticate" window contains several words (actually hexadecimal numbers which are converted to words) which were exchanged during the initial DH encrypted connection. If you wish, you may have the other caller read them to you to authenticate himself. You may then close the "Authenticate" window.
7. While you are speaking, you will see the stats changing on PGPFone's main window. The most important is your "Round Trip" (RT) time. If it stays above 800 ms, reduce your "Coder" and "Decoder" rates to GSM 6000 Hz. Your RT is your speedometer. It tells you when PGPFone is having trouble over a slow or noisy line. I tried using PGPFone with someone using a poor 56K connection and my RT shot up to 10000 ms. For the math-deprived, that is a 10 second delay! For international calls, this means you will only be able to converse if both have digital. See note 2 below for experimenting with the "Coder" and "Decoder" rates in the PGPFone main window.
8. When you are finished, you may click "Hang up" (or "Disconnect"?) in PGPFone or simply exit PGPFone.
9. If you gave out your IP, you may want to re-enable your firewall to protect yourself. If you are using a dial-up, simply log-off, wait 3 minutes, and log back on. While giving out your IP is an inconvenience, direct IP to IP communication is the fastest way to communicate over the Internet. Microsoft's NetMeeting has the same requirements (only it's not encrypted and there's no privacy guarantee). See note 4 below.
1. June 3, 2004 Update: A Google.COM search today yielded newer phone encryption technology including cellular phones. New cellular encryption phones are now available at Cryptophone. A pair of these phones will only set you back $4,600 USD (the USD has fallen 20% against the Euro). I suppose if you are a famous wealthy athlete and are accused of murdering two people with a knife or raping a young woman, you probably should use these expensive phones to communicate with everyone around you (especially your lawyers). It wouldn't surprise me at all if, in these types of cases, aggressive snoops were to listen in on their phone conversations. In fact, there have already been a number of cases where a certain private group was caught illegally wiretapping into the conversations of middle-class USA citizens.
Interestingly, Cryptophone also has free GSMK CryptoPhone for Windows. Apparently, this
free software allows users to communicate via the Internet PC to PC the same way PGPfone
does. I have not tested Cryptophone for Windows and I make no recommendations either way.
However, I am sure it is more modern than PGPfone. PGPfone 2.1 was written in 1998 and is
fairly dated. I do not believe there will be any further development (the heady days of the
Internet are long gone).
2.
If both parties have digital connections and a CPU 500 MHz or above, try using GSM 11025 Hz
and ADPCM 8000 Hz. If you can use either and keep your average "Round Trip" time below
500 ms, the sound quality should be better than a phone. Your "Round Trip" time and other stats
are on the main window and are active during a call.
3 4
The small print (get your magnifying glass):
All statements made on this site are my opinion.
I SHALL NOT IN ANY EVENT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, AND DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, OR OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS, EVEN IF I HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, WHETHER SUCH LIABILITY IS BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, WARRANTY, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL OR EQUITABLE GROUNDS.