Zimmermann, Phil(ip) R (1955– )

US security consultant and author of the encryption program Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). He was an obscure security consultant in Colorado, with an interest in cryptography until the ready availability of PGP caught the eye of the US Justice Department, which in 1993 began investigating whether Zimmermann had violated US export restrictions on strong encryption products. He consistently denied having released PGP to the Net, and in 1996 the Justice Department dropped the investigation without indicting him.