How to use GPG to encrypt and decrypt files

Learn how GPG encryption protects your data through authenticity, integrity and nonrepudiation. This guide covers installation and symmetric and asymmetric cryptography basics.

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• Damon Garn, Cogspinner Coaction

How does GPG protect data?

Encryption seeks to satisfy the following three goals:

• Authenticity. Guaranteeing the source of a message.
• Integrity. Guaranteeing a message did not change unexpectedly.
• Nonrepudiation. Guaranteeing the source of the message.

GPG satisfies all three goals by combining symmetric and asymmetric cryptography to protect stored files and digital communications.

Symmetric and asymmetric cryptography are critical components of today's security and privacy strategies. Symmetric cryptography uses a single private key (shared secret) to both encrypt and decrypt data, while asymmetric cryptography uses a mathematically related public and private key pair. Data encrypted with one key can only be decrypted by the other -- for example, data encrypted using the public key can only be decrypted ...