PGP Vulnerability Alert: Potential for Unauthorized Email Decryption

Snoopers on the Internet could decode sensitive e-mail messages simply by tricking recipients into hitting the reply button, computer security researchers warned Monday. The flaw affects software using Pretty Good Privacy, the most popular tool for scrambling. . . Snoopers on the Internet could decode sensitive e-mail messages simply by tricking recipients into hitting the reply button, computer security researchers warned Monday. The flaw affects software using Pretty Good Privacy, the most popular tool for scrambling e-mail.

Researchers at Columbia University and Counterpane Internet Security Inc. found that someone intercepting an encrypted message could descramble it by repackaging the message and passing it on to the recipient.

The message would appear as gibberish, possibly prompting the recipient to request a resend.

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