From: holist <holist@mail.matav.hu>
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 06:27:11 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: No Subject
Message-ID: <199811222154.NAA25646@toad.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



I'm sorry if this is gnawing at old bones for you, but I recently heard from
a rather paranoid, anonymous source here in Hungay that PGP was compromised,
Zimmermann sold out to the Feds, all versions except possibly early DOS
versions of PGP have back doors in them. 
He is also claiming that the CIA have already provided the backdoor-key to
PGP 5.0 to the Hungarian Secret Services. Is he being too paranoid, or what?

The reason I am asking cypherpunks, which I realise is not really a list
dedicated to PGP, about them, is that their credentials to my mind would be
sufficient to discredit. I have heard this rumour in sufficiently bogus
intellectual contexts before (Cyberconf8, if that rings a bell to anyone -
wouldn't blame you if it didn't) where it seemed blatantly obvious that it
was entirely unfounded, as the people who were spreading it could not
recognise code if they saw it, and seemed only an attempt to appear to be in
the know. This source, however, seems different.

Can I have some reassurance, please? And could you possibly suggest how
someone unable to check the code themselves could go about authenticating a
version of PGP? It is fated to become a rather important issue here soon.

thank you

holist