Hello!
    
We are pleased to announce the availability of a new stable GnuPG
release: Version 1.4.5
 
This is maintenance release to fix a recently detected flaw in the
handling of certain packets, see the NEWS part below. 
 
           UPDATING TO THIS VERSION IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
 
The GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG) is GNU's tool for secure communication
and data storage.  It is a complete and free replacement of PGP and
can be used to encrypt data and to create digital signatures.  It
includes an advanced key management facility and is compliant with the
proposed OpenPGP Internet standard as described in RFC2440.
 
 
Getting the Software
====================
 
Please follow the instructions found at http://www.gnupg.org/download/
or read on:
 
GnuPG 1.4.5 may be downloaded from one of the GnuPG mirror sites or
direct from ftp://ftp.gnupg.org/gcrypt/ .  The list of mirrors can be
found at http://www.gnupg.org/mirrors.html .  Note, that GnuPG is not
available at ftp.gnu.org.
 
On the mirrors you should find the following files in the *gnupg*
directory:
 
  gnupg-1.4.5.tar.bz2 (3017k)
  gnupg-1.4.5.tar.bz2.sig
 
      GnuPG source compressed using BZIP2 and OpenPGP signature.
 
  gnupg-1.4.5.tar.gz (4247k)
  gnupg-1.4.5.tar.gz.sig
 
      GnuPG source compressed using GZIP and OpenPGP signature.
 
  gnupg-1.4.4-1.4.5.diff.bz2 (116k)
 
      A patch file to upgrade a 1.4.4 GnuPG source. 
 
Select one of them. To shorten the download time, you probably want to
get the BZIP2 compressed file.  Please try another mirror if
exceptional your mirror is not yet up to date.
 
In the *binary* directory, you should find these files:
 
  gnupg-w32cli-1.4.5.exe (1460k)
  gnupg-w32cli-1.4.5.exe.sig
 
      GnuPG compiled for Microsoft Windows and OpenPGP signature.
      This is a command line only version; the source files are the
      same as given above.  Note, that this is a minimal installer and
      unless you are just in need for the gpg binary, you are better
      off using the full featured installer at http://www.gpg4win.org .
      A new version of Gpg4win, including this version of GnuPG will
      be available and announced really soon.
  
 
Checking the Integrity
======================
 
In order to check that the version of GnuPG which you are going to
install is an original and unmodified one, you can do it in one of
the following ways:
 
 * If you already have a trusted version of GnuPG installed, you
   can simply check the supplied signature.  For example to check the
   signature of the file gnupg-1.4.5.tar.bz2 you would use this command:
 
     gpg --verify gnupg-1.4.5.tar.bz2.sig
 
   This checks whether the signature file matches the source file.
   You should see a message indicating that the signature is good and
   made by that signing key.  Make sure that you have the right key,
   either by checking the fingerprint of that key with other sources
   or by checking that the key has been signed by a trustworthy other
   key.  Note, that you can retrieve the signing key using the command
 
     finger wk ,at' g10code.com
 
   or using a keyserver like
 
     gpg --recv-key 1CE0C630
 
   The distribution key 1CE0C630 is signed by the well known key
   5B0358A2.  If you get an key expired message, you should retrieve a
   fresh copy as the expiration date might have been prolonged.
 
   NEVER USE A GNUPG VERSION YOU JUST DOWNLOADED TO CHECK THE
   INTEGRITY OF THE SOURCE - USE AN EXISTING GNUPG INSTALLATION!
 
 * If you are not able to use an old version of GnuPG, you have to verify
   the SHA-1 checksum.  Assuming you downloaded the file
   gnupg-1.4.5.tar.bz2, you would run the sha1sum command like this:
 
     sha1sum gnupg-1.4.5.tar.bz2
 
   and check that the output matches the first line from the
   following list:
 
4f8705dec4a32a19cd972a61244fd676fbc28bd7  gnupg-1.4.5.tar.gz
553fefe0da5a91108dd9468e381faf9487754f9a  gnupg-1.4.5.tar.bz2
0db5569be69f309f7c6aad7e77283945b503c77d  gnupg-1.4.4-1.4.5.diff.bz2
c59fc69449d332133f2574523d0e29989fc981f5  gnupg-w32cli-1.4.5.exe
 
 
 
Upgrade Information
===================
 
If you are upgrading from a version prior to 1.0.7, you should run the
script tools/convert-from-106 once.  Please note also that due to a
bug in versions prior to 1.0.6 it may not be possible to downgrade to
such versions unless you apply the patch
http://www.gnupg.org/developer/gpg-woody-fix.txt .
 
If you have any problems, please see the FAQ and the mailing list
archive at http://lists.gnupg.org.  Please direct questions to the
gnupg-users at gnupg.org mailing list.
 
 
What's New
===========
 
    * Reverted check for valid standard handles under Windows.
 
    * More DSA2 tweaks.
 
    * Fixed a problem uploading certain keys to the smart card.
 
    * Fixed 2 more possible memory allocation attacks.  They are
      similar to the problem we fixed with 1.4.4.  This bug can easily
      be be exploted for a DoS; remote code execution is not entirely
      impossible.
 
    * Added Norwegian translation.
 
 
Internationalization
====================
 
GnuPG comes with support for 29 languages.  Due to a lot of new and
changed strings the translations are not entirely complete. 
 
 
Future Directions
=================
 
GnuPG 1.4.x is the current stable branch and will be kept as the easy
to use and build single-executable versions.  We plan to backport new
features from the development series to 1.4.
 
GnuPG 1.9.x is the development series of GnuPG.  This version merged
the code from the Aegypten project and thus includes the gpg-agent, a
smartcard daemon and gpg's S/MIME cousin gpgsm.  The design is
different to the previous versions and we may not support all ancient
systems - thus POSIX compatibility will be an absolute requirement for
supported platforms.  We plan to release GnuPG 2.0 within this year.
 
IF YOU NEED GNUPG 1.9, IT IS HIGHLY SUGGESTED THAT YOU INSTALL IT IN
ADDITION TO GNUPG 1.4!  Both versions will peacefully coexist and
extend each other.
 
 
Support
=======
 
Improving GnuPG is costly, but you can help!  We are looking for
organizations that find GnuPG useful and wish to contribute back.  You
can contribute by reporting bugs, improve the software, or by donating
money.
 
Commercial support contracts for GnuPG are available, and they help
finance continued maintenance.  g10 Code GmbH, a Duesseldorf based
company owned and headed by gpg's principal author, is currently
funding GnuPG development.  We are always looking for interesting
development projects.
 
A service directory is available at:
 
  http://www.gnupg.org/service.html
 
 
Thanks
======
 
We have to thank all the people who helped with this release, be it
testing, coding, translating, suggesting, auditing, administering the
servers, spreading the word or answering questions on the mailing
lists.  
 
 
Happy Hacking,
 
 
  The GnuPG Team (David, Werner and the other contributors)
 
-- 
Werner Koch                                      <wk at gnupg.org>
The GnuPG Experts                                http://g10code.com
Join the Fellowship and protect your Freedom!    http://www.fsfe.org