Topic: pgp (Read 814 times)

PGP combines some of the best features of both conventional and public key cryptography. PGP is a hybrid cryptosystem. When a user encrypts plaintext with PGP, PGP first compresses the plaintext. Data compression saves modem transmission time and disk space and, more importantly, strengthens cryptographic security. Most cryptanalysis techniques exploit patterns found in the plaintext to crack the cipher. Compression reduces these patterns in the plaintext, thereby greatly enhancing resistance to cryptanalysis. (Files that are too short to compress or which don't compress well aren't compressed).

PGP then creates a session key, which is a one-time-only secret key. This key is a random number generated from the random movements of your mouse and the keystrokes you type. This session key works with a very secure, fast conventional encryption algorithm to encrypt the plaintext; the result is ciphertext. Once the data is encrypted, the session key is then encrypted to the recipient's public key. This public key-encrypted session key is transmitted along with the ciphertext to the recipient.

Decryption works in the reverse. The recipient's copy of PGP uses his or her private key to recover the temporary session key, which PGP then uses to decrypt the conventionally-encrypted ciphertext.

The combination of the two encryption methods combines the convenience of public key encryption with the speed of conventional encryption. Conventional encryption is about 1, 000 times faster than public key encryption. Public key encryption in turn provides a solution to key distribution and data transmission issues. Used together, performance and key distribution are improved without any sacrifice in security.

Good source for initial information. Thank you

Assuming you know some of the Bitcoin basics, you know about signing/verifying addresses/messages. The idea is the same.

If you want to learn how to use PGP or just learn the basic concepts a good place to start is here. Although, some of the links are outdated, if you search it up you will find it located in a different site but, with the same information.

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is a data encryption and decryption computer program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. PGP is often used for signing, encrypting, and decrypting texts, e-mails, files, directories, and whole disk partitions and to increase the security of e-mail communications. It was created by Phil Zimmermann in 1991 while working at PKWARE, Inc.

PGP and similar software follow the OpenPGP standard (RFC 4880) for encrypting and decrypting data.

with pgp you have a private key and a public key
with your private key you can sign messages and you can let people verify you hvae written them with your public key.

Its objective it to make messaging safer

Just use a Google search and you find PGP page on Wikipedia. 

can someone explain to me BRIEFLY what pgp is?

and how it is more secure than say texting for verification? (if you know each others real life phone numbers)