Greetings!
> Would anyone mind explaining a little about how PGP works? I
> recently installed GnuPG... I vaguely understand the private
> key/public key and how they encrypt/decrypt data. I don't know much
It's really quite simple. The PRIVATE key is just that, you keep it secret
from everyone. With PGP the private key is protected by encrypting it with the
IDEA cipher (that is what your passphrase is for), but you should still take
care not to let anyone else get ahold of this file.
The PUBLIC key is public, i.e. you should distribute it as widely as possible
(usually via keyservers).
> how it's used, either. If I encrypt something with my PGP key, and
> send it to a friend, will it decrypt by itself, or does the other
> person need anything? When I see the public key messages on the
To send a message to someone you must have his/her public key. Once the
encryption is complete, it can only be decrypted by their corresponding private
key.
Going the other way is possible to, you can encrypt a document (or more
normally just an MD5 hash value of the document) with your private key and then
everyone with your public key can decrypt it. This is how digital signatures
work. Only you can make a signature because only you (are supposed) to have
access to the private key.
> bottom of an email, was that email encrypted? or is that just part
> of their sig?
It could be a copy of their public key, or it could be part of a digital
signature.
As with any encryption or security system, be sure and take the time to read
the docs as there are a lot of ways to make mistakes which can leave you open
with a false sense of security.
If you want to go into more detail, just let me know.
/\-/\ Dean Ridgway | Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
( - - ) InterNet [EMAIL PROTECTED] | I took the one less traveled by,
=\_v_/= FidoNet 1:357/1.103 | And that has made all the difference.
CIS 73225,512 | "The Road Not Taken" - Robert Frost.
http://www.peak.org/~ridgwad/
PGP mail encouraged, finger for key: 28C577F3 2A5655AFD792B0FB 9BA31E6AB4683126
