By Peter Svensson The Associated Press E-mails that have been scrambled for confidentiality with a widely used program may not be secure at all, software company Network Associates Inc. said Thursday. The company confirmed that e-mails encrypted using its PGP software may be vulnerable to a sophisticated attacker. Mike Wallach, president of Network Associates unit PGP Security, based in Santa Clara, Calif., said a fix for the problem would soon be posted on the PGP Web site and customers would be informed. It's not likely that anybody without specialized knowledge could use it,'' Wallach said. PGP, which stands for Pretty Good Privacy, is used by 7 million people worldwide, according to Wallach.
Some businesses use it send confidential documents.
The program uses a complex mathematical code to scramble e-mails. The flaw lies in an attacker's ability to tamper with the key, which is often stored on public servers. An e-mail created using a tampered key can be read by the attacker. PGP software versions 5.5 and up are vulnerable, according to PGP Security.