Private Idaho uses the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption library to encrypt all its messages. It therefore does not include any internal encryption routines at all.

If you would like to read a very good book on the background to PGP, then get a copy of SImson Garfinkel's book PGP Encryption for Everyone published by O'Reilly & Associates. This book was written to cover the an earlier version of PGP, that is PGP 2.6.x, however it is still very relevant.

Getting Started

After you have installed Private Idaho you must configure it. The main items you must configure are those that allow you to access your mail. First of all, dial your ISP and log onto the Internet. The purpose of this step is for you to be able to access your mail server.

Configuring the Server Options

To configure Private Idaho, click on the Tools:Email Options menu item. From there, fill in the details as shown below as they apply to you. Note if you are using Exchange then you should be aware that you will likely have a different SMTP and POP3 address. Just remember that your log-on ID for exchange will be something like, <nt domain>/<your id>, for example ntdomain/mjones

Managing your Mail Folders.

Private Idaho's mail folders are very similar to MS Outlook's. You may drag and drop between folders. The default folder names are obvious. All deleted messages first go to the Deleted Items folder, and the deletion is permanent if a message is deleted from the Deleted Items folder. The following is a description of the System Folders.

Drafts Folder

The drafts folder is where messages are stored that are in the process of being written. To store messages here, just click on the Save button icon.

Outbox

The Outbox is where messages are temporarily stored while waiting to be sent. When you send a message, it is first stored here and will be when Private Idaho next scans for messages. This scan period can be set under the Tools:Email Options menu item. If you wish to send the message without waiting for the next scan period, then click on Tools:Send and Receive Messages.

Sent Items

This folder will contain messages that were successfully sent. You can drag and store them to other folders if you wish.

InBox

The InBox will contain all incoming messages. If a message is determined to be encrypted then you will see a closed envelope with a key on top of it.

Description of Inbox Message Icons

The following table gives a description of the icons used in the Inbox.

Icon	Read	Plain Text	Encrypted
Eye with Closed Envelope	No	Yes	No
Eye with Open Envelope	Yes	Yes	No
Key with Closed Envelope	No	No	Yes
Key with Open Envelope	Yes	No	Yes

Creating a Node Folder

A node folder can be created by right clicking the mouse button or clicking on the folder icon on the toolbar.

Creating a Sub-Folder

A sub folder is created by clicking on a Node folder and then right clicking the mouse button.

Sending your first message.

Once the intial setup is complete click on the Apply button and Private Idaho is ready to run as normal email client. To test it, click on the compose butto non the tool bar above and compose a message and then type in the E-mail address of the person you wish to send the message to. As this is a simple test, make sure that the remailer drop down list shows Don't Use Remailers. If all is okay, press the Send button (Envelope Icon) and the message will be transferred to your Outbox. The message will be sent next time Private Idaho scans for incoming messages. If you want the messages sent straight away, then click on the Tools:Send and Receive Messages menu item. If you sent the message to yourself, you should see the message returned in your inbox, this is because PI scans for new messages after it has sent a message. If you want to view it then double click on the message and it will open so that you can read it. Practice this to make sure you understand the process before proceeding to more advanced work involving remailers and encryption.

Attaching a File or Picture

A file or picture can be added by either draging and droping the item into the message area, or by clicking on the paper clip button on the toolbar. The message is encoded using the standard MIME format. Should you receive a message through a remailer or other source that does not understand MIME, you can decode it using Private Idaho's MIME decode utility which is the green particle box on the main toolbar. If you wish to send an attachement through a remailer you should refer to the section Sending Attachments through Remailers.

Encrypting a Message

Before you can encrypt a message you must have PGP version 5 or 6 installed. If you installed Private Idaho without PGP installed you will notice that there is no PGP menu. To fix this install PGP. Once you have done this, close down Private Idaho and restart it. If all was okay, you should the PGP menu, if not go to the menu File:Enable PGP and Utilies. You should now see the PGP menu.

Encrypting using a key

Okay, here is how it works. After you have created a message you will want to either encrypt, sign it or encrypt and sign it. Let's start with encrypting the message. If you go to the PGP:Encrypt Mesage menu item without a recipient in the To field, you will obtain an error. This is because Private Idaho is looking for the Key ID of the recipient. To fix this click on the To: button. If you have the recipient's public key on your key ring you should see it after you select the drop-down box item "Public Keys" shown below. Select the recipient and click okay, the receipient's email address should now appear in the To: box and the message will have been encrypted with that person's public key. The only person who can de-crypt the message now is the owner of the public key. He will do this by using his matching private key. So you can now send the message to him directly or through a remailer.

Encrypting an Attachment or Picture

A file or picture can be added by either draging and droping the item into the message area, or by clicking on the paper clip button on the toolbar. Once it has been added to the attachment list you have the option of sending it as part of the message either encrypted with a key, conventionally encrypted or unencrypted. Each of these options is available through the main menu item under PGP:Encryption Options:Attachments Encryption Options.

Conventionally Encrypting a Message

There may be times when you wish to use a conventional encryption technique. This basically means that the message will be encrypted with a passphrase. This means that only you will be able to decrypt message. If you wish to send this encrypted message to someone else, then you will need to tell them the passphrase. This is very different from Public Key Encryption where you rely on the recipient having a public key that you can use.

To conventionally encrypt a message you must first set the conventional encrypt option (see screen capture below). Now just copy or type the text into the message area and then go to the menu PGP: Encrypt and the message area will be encrypted. If you have selected the Files Operations you will be given the option of saving the encrypted information to a file.

Advanced Encryption Options.

Private Idaho gives you an option of using other Ciphers and Hash algorithms when encoding messages. You can view these by clicking the PGP:Advanced Algorithms menu item.

Signing a Message

Signing a message is authenticating that the message was sent by you and also allows the user to verify that the text of the message was no