On Thursday 31 Mar 2011 6:51:49 pm Anoop Alias wrote: > you encrypt the file using your secret key and publish your pub-key to a > key server (there are many free ones) .So your friend can decrypt using > the pub-key > > I am not sure if you will be able to decrypt if you lose the key > .technically you should not ..as thats what Public key cryptography is for > right? > > 2011/3/31 Joe Joseph ജോ ജോസഫ് <[email protected]> > > > I created a PGP key using seahorse program..and encrypted some files.... > > saved filename.asc and later came to know i ahd to backup ~/.gnupg > > folder(but did not backup the folder and formated the /home during > > reinstalltion of same os accidentally)...and i cannot decrypt the > > files... only i have now the .asc file .Is there a to decyrpt the files > > > > again using the same key i encrypted a mail using a thunderbird plugin > > but my friend could not read it....is was scrambled figure my friend > > got. > > > > can anyone explain 1>how to allow my friend to read the f,mail etc if i > > send him/her an ecnrypted msg or file ile...2>how Gnu PG works and how to > > backup the key pairs.....in Ubuntu/Linuxmint > > > > Regards > > Joe Joseph > > > > -- > > mailto:[email protected] > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Indian Libre User Group Cochin Mailing List > > http://www.ilug-cochin.org/mailing-list/ > > http://mail.ilug-cochin.org/mailman/listinfo/mailinglist_ilug-cochin.org > > #[email protected]
Anoop, I believe you're mistaken. You can't encrypt anything with a private/secret key. You can only sign it. So that anyone can verify your message to be authentic using your public key. The public key can be used for encryption though. The message could be decrypted only by the private key. Joe, I had a similar situation of losing my private key too. Turns out it's literally a lost cause. Then, to send encrypted messages to your friend, he/she would need a key pair of his/her own. You'd need to encrypt the message using their public key. Otherwise, you could create a symmetric key. It uses the same key for both encryption and decryption. Anyone who knows the passphrase can encrypt or decrypt the stuff. So all you have to do is to share the passphrase with your select group of friends. -- Fayaz Yusuf Khan B.Tech. Computer Science & Engineering (2007-2011) Model Engineering College, Kochi, Kerala, India +91-9746-830-823
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