The MDC is as much "authenticated encryption" as the proposed pointless and harmful "AEAD" modes[1]. The confusion here comes from the fact that a non-connectio

The MDC is as much "authenticated encryption" as the proposed pointless and harmful "AEAD" modes[1]. The confusion here comes from the fact that a non-connection oriented protocol like PGP does that authentication directly on the plaintext[2]. There is no authentication to maintain over the life of a connection to maintain in the way that, say, TLS requires. [1] https://articles.59.ca/doku.php?id=pgpfan:no_new_ae https://articles.59.ca/doku.php?id=pgpfan:no_new_ae [2] https://articles.59.ca/doku.php?id=pgpfan:authenticated https://articles.59.ca/doku.php?id=pgpfan:authenticated