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Can PGP be compromised?
In short, it is essentially impossible for anyone – be they a hacker or even the NSA – to break PGP encryption. Though there have been some news stories that point out security flaws in some implementations of PGP, such as the Efail vulnerability, it’s important to recognize that PGP itself is still very secure.
How do I protect my PGP key?
One thing I do recommend is that you keep them encrypted and ideally not directly on a computer connected to the Internet unless it’s something you will use constantly. I also recommend having one local encrypted backup (same building) and at least one off-site encrypted backup of these keys.
Do I need to protect my public key?
In a public key cryptosystem, you don’t have to protect public keys from exposure. In fact, it’s better if they are widely disseminated. But it is important to protect public keys from tampering, to make sure that a public key really belongs to whom it appears to belong to.
How does PGP protect you from a compromised system?
A: PGP does not protect you if you use your secret key on a compromised system, i.e. you type your passphrase and sign or decrypt something, or if you stored the passphrase in plaintext on the compromised system (as described in How can I give my passphrase to the commandline PGP automatically? ).
Are there any weaknesses in the encryption of PGP?
The cryptographic algorithms used for encryption and signing in PGP are very well researched and have shown no practical weaknesses (see Can’t you break PGP by trying all of the possible keys? ).
What do you need to decrypt a PGP email?
Secure email messaging (also normally stored in plaintext!) Every PGP user has a key pair: their own private and public key. To encrypt a message, you will need the receiver’s public key, and your own private key. To decrypt a message, you will need the sender’s encrypted message and your own private key to decrypt it.
What’s the difference between a public and private key in PGP?
Every PGP user has both a public and private key. A public key is the key that other people use to encrypt a message that only you can open. A private key is the key that allows you to decrypt the messages sent to you based on your public key, the private key can also be used to generate message and file signatures.