Phil Zimmerman on privacy and VoIP

On Friday, 20 May 2016, Phil Zimmerman addressed 50 students, employees and guests on recent developments concerning the privacy of e-mail and voice-over-IP (VoIP). Phil Zimmerman is the brain behind the PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) encryption protocol for e-mail, and ZRTP for VoIP.

He talked about the increased interest in breaking encryption protocols – for example in the recent FBI versus Apple case – and emphasised the importance of end-to-end encryption methods that can withstand quantum computer attacks. The talk was followed by a discussion with those present about the role of the encryption user and the use of social engineering as an attack technique.