Report: Google looks to integrate PGP with Gmail

Google is reportedly looking into ways to integrate PGP encryption into Gmail, to make the security tool more user-friendly.

In a Monday article, an unnamed source at Google told VentureBeat that the company has “research underway to improve the usability of PGP with Gmail.”

PGP, which stands for Pretty Good Privacy, was created in the early 90s, but tools utilizing the security method have remained largely “unapproachable” to the average online user interested in securing data, the outlet revealed.

Phil Zimmermann, the inventor of PGP, also co-founded Silent Circle, an encrypted communications firm that shut down its email service last fall. The company pulled the plug on the Silent Mail service as a preemptive move to protect customer data in the midst of government surveillance revelations.