[Spooks] kinda a spooky question

[David Crawford]

I don't think it is an off-topic  question at all. If you read Spycatcher, you can hear about how one British CI officer made almost
a career out of tracking down traces of 'cheaply' encrypted number messages.

All those numbers we monitor, must be generated. Certainly few (if any) of the professionals are using PGP. I'm a journalist. I use
PGP to communicate with some colleagues. One colleague started using it when he was working in Beijing, and considered it pretty
safe. I asked him if, in the years he was there, he ever left his office.

"Sure."

Well that's when his private key became (less)-private.

I don't think there is any need to build a backdoor into PGP. If they want any normal person's private key, they'll figure out a way
to get it. Crack it with a number cruncher? Why waste the time if you can get it with a screwdriver?

David Crawford
dwc@snafu.de