Phil Zimmermann

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For other uses of "Zimmermann", see Zimmermann (disambiguation)

Phil Zimmermann is the creator of the popular PGP encryption software.

Philip R. "Phil" Zimmermann Jr. (born February 12, 1954) is the creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), the most widely used email encryption software in the world. He is also known for his work in VoIP encryption protocols, notably ZRTP and Zfone.

He was born in Camden, New Jersey. His father was a concrete mixer truck driver. He received a B.S. degree in computer science from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton in 1978.

He was one of the first to make asymmetric, or public key, encryption software readily available to the general public. He released the source code to PGP, and shortly thereafter, it became available overseas via the Internet, though Zimmermann has said he had no part in its distribution outside the US. After a report from RSADSI (RSA Data Security, Inc.), who were in a licensing dispute with regard to use of the RSA algorithm in PGP, the Customs Service started a criminal investigation of Zimmermann, for allegedly violating the Arms Export Control Act. The US Goverment has long regarded cryptographic software as a munition, and thus subject to arms trafficking export controls. At that time, the boundary between permitted ("low strength") cryptography and impermissable ("high strength") cryptography placed PGP well on the too strong to export side (this boundary has since been relaxed). The investigation lasted three years, but was finally dropped without filing charges. After the government dropped its case without indictment in early 1996, Zimmermann founded PGP Inc. and released an updated version of PGP and some additional related products. That company was acquired by Network Associates (NAI) in December 1997, and Zimmermann stayed on for three years as a Senior Fellow. NAI decided to drop the product line and in 2002, PGP was acquired from NAI by a new company called PGP Corporation. Zimmermann now serves as a special advisor and consultant to that firm. Zimmermann is also a fellow at the Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society.

In the very first version of PGP, an encryption algorithm was given the humorous name Bass-O-Matic (after a skit on Saturday Night Live) and Pretty Good Privacy itself is named after a Lake Wobegon fictional grocery store named Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery.

Zimmermann has received numerous technical and humanitarian awards for his pioneering work in cryptography:

In 2001 Zimmermann was inducted into the CRN Industry Hall of Fame.
In 2000 InfoWorld named him one of the Top 10 Innovators in E-business.
In 1999 he received the Louis Brandeis Award from Privacy International.
In 1998, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Secure Computing Magazine
In 1996, he received the Norbert Wiener Award for Social and Professional Responsibility for promoting the responsible use of technology.
In 1995, he received the Chrysler Design Award for Innovation, and the Pioneer Award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
In 1995, Newsweek also named Zimmermann one of the "Net 50", the 50 most influential people on the Internet.