Wired News reports that Phil Zimmermann, creator of Pretty Good Privacy e-mail encryption program, is going to develop a similar tool for VoIP calls, and will show-off his tool that encrypts voice over internet protocol, or VOIP at the BlackHat security conference in Las Vegas this week. He is worried that like email, not many are paying attention to VoIP security.

> “The PSTN is like a well-manicured neighborhood, (while) the internet is like a crime-ridden slum. To move all of our phone calls from the PSTN to the internet seems foolish without protecting it,” he told Wired News. “Because there are a lot of people who are concerned about the erosion of civil liberties that the Patriot Act brought,” Zimmermann said. “I’m hoping that more people would approve of this project than disapprove.”

One thing - his work with PGP has made him use colorful way to describe complicated issues to the media. That should get some attention. Still, he will have to convince the VoIP establishment - the VoIP Security Alliance has a security protocol for encryption in place, and many refuse to enable the encryption features on their software/phones.