Software Update: Gpg4win 4.0.0

Gpg4win aims to facilitate easy installation of GnuPG and related tools on the Windows platform. With GnuPG you can secure communication flows and data with encryption and digital signatures. It supports both OpenPGP and s/mime standards. The developers of Gpg4win released version 4.0 a few days ago and the following changes have been made to it:

Crypto Backend (GnuPG 2.3) Gpg4win 4 is a major update to the underlying crypto backend. The new GnuPG 2.3 is the future-proof foundation for the secure exchange of data and mails over the next years. The user interface stays mostly the same, while the backend provides more:

• Support for the upcoming refresh of the OpenPGP Standards†
• ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography) support for S/MIME. Including brain pool curves.
• New smartcard handling with better support for multiple smartcards.
• New support for:
  • Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards.
  • Telesec Signature Cards v2.0.
  • ECC in S/MIME for Rohde & Schwarz Cybersecurity cards.
  • Curve X448 (ed448, cv448).
• Extended, regular expression based, password rules.
• Full unicode support on the command line.
• A new storage for certificates (public keys). To enable it put “use-keyboxd” into gpg.conf and gpgsm.conf. Public keys are stored in an SQLite database, which makes lookups much faster.
• ECC with Curve25519 is the new default when creating fresh OpenPGP keys.

Crypto Manager (Kleopatra)

• Groups enable you to regularly address the same communication partners. They can also be exported and imported, including both the S/MIME and OpenPGP certificates.
• Improved accessibility so that Kleopatra can be used for encryption while using a screenreaders
• UI for multiple smart cards.
• New configuration settings for administrators to restrict actions.
• Improved symmetric (password based) encryption, including generating passwords.

Outlook Plugin (GpgOL) The Outlook add-in is mostly the same as in Version 3, but GpgOL profits from the new crypto backend and will get more features in the following Gpg4win 4 releases.Note on compliance The new version of the crypto backend is not yet approved for VS-NfD / RESTRICTED communication. Where an officially approved version is required, please use our product variant with support from the vendor: GnuPG VS Desktop†