If that isn't your cup of tea, you can use a GPG tool with a visual interface instead. You can use the GnuPG as a free and open-source alternative. Download GPG Tools for Your SystemĪs mentioned, PGP is a licensed encryption tool that Symantec owns. Getting Started with PGP and GPG for Email in 4 Steps The creation of an open-source PGP version eliminated the issues regarding the export of cryptography while ensuring anyone could make use of the encryption tool. In fact, Zimmerman was investigated for breaching the Arms Export Control Act, such was the power of the PGP encryption tool at the time.ĭue to those restrictions, the OpenPGP Working Group was formed with help from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IEFT). Which meant exporting Zimmerman's PGP tool to international countries was a serious crime. OpenPGP: Up until 1992, cryptography featured on the US Munitions List as an Auxiliary Military Equipment. Now owned by Symantec but licensed by thousands of companies. PGP: Developed by Phil Zimmerman in 1991, PGP is one of the most enduring digital encryption methods and the most popular email encryption tool. Here's a quick history of PGP, OpenPGP, and GPG.

Unless you're going to be buying a PGP-enabled product from Symantec, the company that currently owns the PGP copyright and company, you'll likely be using GPG. GPG is an open-source implementation of PGP, and works on the same principles. Throughout this article, I'll be discussing both PGP and Gnu Privacy Guard (GnuPG, or GPG). What's the Difference Between PGP, OpenPGP, and GnuPG? If even a single letter in the message is changed before it's decrypted, the signature will be invalidated, alerting the recipient to foul play. By signing your encrypted message with your private key, you provide a way for the recipient to see if the message content has been changed. In addition to encryption, PGP also allows for digital signatures. But it's also quite safe, as messages can only be decrypted with privately known keys that are password-protected. This system ensures that it's easy to send encrypted communications because the only thing needed to encrypt a message is a public key and the proper PGP program. It'll help make encryption terminology much easier to understand. Unsure what a public key or a private key is? Check out these basic encryption terms before reading on.

It works by encrypting a message using a public key that's tied to a specific user when that user receives the message, they use a private key that's known only to them to decrypt it. PGP stands for 'Pretty Good Privacy.' PGP is most often used for sending encrypted messages between two people.

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