computer science

PGP Corporation

PGP Corporation is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand PGP Corporation rather than just read about it. In short: PGP Corporation was a company that sold Pretty Good Privacy computer software. It was founded in 2002, and acquired by Symantec in 2010, and by Broadcom in 2019.

Key takeaways

PGP Corporation belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect PGP Corporation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of PGP Corporation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

PGP Corporation was a company that sold Pretty Good Privacy computer software. It was founded in 2002, and acquired by Symantec in 2010, and by Broadcom in 2019.

History PGP Corporation was co-founded in June 2002 by Jon Callas and Phil Dunkelberger (who became CEO), based in Menlo Park, California. It was funded by Rob Theis, general partner, Doll Capital Management and Terry Garnett, general partner, Venrock Associates. The company owned the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) software, which was originally developed by Phil Zimmermann (who had earlier started a company of a similar name). Originally written in 1991, PGP was one of the first freely and publicly available implementations of public-key cryptography. It was originally used to allow individuals to communicate securely through bulletin board systems. PGP later became standardized and supported by many other applications, including email. PGP Corporation acquired the code and rights to the name from Network Associates (NAI) in August 2002. The company released version 9 of the software in 2005. PGP Corporation's focus shifted towards the corporate market. In 2004, the company announced plans to integrate with Symantec anti-virus technology. In February 2010, the company acquired certificate authority TC TrustCenter and its parent company, ChosenSecurity, to form its PGP TrustCenter division. On April 29, 2010, Symantec Corp. announced the acquisition of PGP Corporation for about $300 million cash. The merger was complete in June of that year. On August 9, 2019, Broadcom Inc. announced they would be acquiring the Enterprise Security software division of Symantec, which includes PGP Corporation.

References

External links Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with PGP Corporation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what PGP Corporation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to PGP Corporation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about PGP Corporation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of PGP Corporation

In research: PGP Corporation appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses PGP Corporation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: PGP Corporation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2002 establishments in California, 2002 establishments in the United States, 2010 mergers and acquisitions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for PGP Corporation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study PGP Corporation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what PGP Corporation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain PGP Corporation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is PGP Corporation in simple terms?

PGP Corporation was a company that sold Pretty Good Privacy computer software. It was founded in 2002, and acquired by Symantec in 2010, and by Broadcom in 2019.

Why does PGP Corporation matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study PGP Corporation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on PGP Corporation.