PGP (Or GnuGP) under Java

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Luc The Perverse - 28 Nov 2005 00:19 GMT

If the only needed functionalities were message encryption and decryption -
how difficult would it be to write a PGP client under Java?

It seems like most (all?) of the algorithms used are available in Java.
Yet I see no mention anywhere of a PGP client made in Java, and I don't know
why.

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Paul Rubin - 28 Nov 2005 00:21 GMT

> If the only needed functionalities were message encryption and
> decryption - how difficult would it be to write a PGP client under Java?

Just what we call a "simple matter of programming". The message formats
are documented in RFC 2440.

> It seems like most (all?) of the algorithms used are available in
> Java. Yet I see no mention anywhere of a PGP client made in Java,
> and I don't know why.

Nobody has wanted one enough to bother writing one. Maybe you will be
the first.

Actually, I think hushmail.com uses PGP message formats in their web
applet, but that's maybe short of a complete implementation.

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Sebastian Gottschalk - 28 Nov 2005 01:28 GMT

>> If the only needed functionalities were message encryption and
>> decryption - how difficult would it be to write a PGP client under Java?
>
> Just what we call a "simple matter of programming". The message formats
> are documented in RFC 2440.

J2SE already includes all necessary crypto algorithms and a powerful key
management system. Through Xerxes, you also got a Base64 coder. HTTP
support is already there, so it's just upon gluing all the components
together and interface with a usable GUI. However, as shown below, it's not
such a good idea.

>> It seems like most (all?) of the algorithms used are available in
>> Java. Yet I see no mention anywhere of a PGP client made in Java,
>> and I don't know why.
>
> Nobody has wanted one enough to bother writing one. Maybe you will be
> the first.

Actually, there is no need for such a thing. We already got a JNI interface
for GnuPG's library GPGme, whereas GnuPG is an multiplatform, stable and
long-term proven software. Which is also way faster than Java when
incoporating cryoptographic operations, and supports OS specific protection
mechanisms like page locking, memory protection, random number generation,
...

> Actually, I think hushmail.com uses PGP message formats in their web
> applet, but that's maybe short of a complete implementation.

Guess what they use...

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Will Dickson - 29 Nov 2005 01:29 GMT

>> If the only needed functionalities were message encryption and
>> decryption - how difficult would it be to write a PGP client under Java?
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Nobody has wanted one enough to bother writing one. Maybe you will be
> the first.

For the crypto "backend", http://www.bouncycastle.org/

The user interface is up to you!

Will.

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PGP (Or GnuGP) under Java

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