From: "Shane D. Mattaway" <shane@netspeak.com> Date: Thu, 1 Feb 1996 07:12:32 -0500 Subject: [VON]: WebPhone Beta 6 Release

AUDIO ENCRYPTION All audio transmissions are encrypted to provide secure conversations without any performance overhead. Encryption is accomplished using a proprietary algorithm.

If the encryption is secure, there is no need to have "security through obscurity." I rather doubt that the makers of WebPhone have invented a proprietary encryption method that actually provides a high level of security. Most truly secure encryption methods (DES, RSA, IDEA) are presented for peer review for years before the academic and cryptographic communities deem them to be reasonably secure. It is easy to claim you have a secure encryption algorithm - but most such algorithms turn out later to have serious security holes. Only some manage to hold up to their security claims under close academic analysis. PGPfone's encryption methods are available for public inspection, and are generally accepted by the cryptographic community to be secure. -Thomas Edwards