On 04/11/13 05:39, chris.arijs wrote: > After some time hesitating i have installed enigmail in Thunderbird. > As i'm just a beginner i added my public key (PK) to a keyserver. I > was now wondering about the fact that if a 3th party intercepts a > mail from me to a friend, is that 3th party able to read the mail > considering they can get my public key from the keyserver.
onpon4 is correct, a public key can only be used to encrypt messages for you and verify signatures created by you. A lot of people get confused by the fact that you don't need your own key to encrypt a message for your friend, you use your friend's public key. Keyservers are useful for publishing a public key to the world, so anyone can send you encrypted mail. Keep in mind that they can theoretically be MITM'd, but in practice this is pretty rare. Andrew.
