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What type of encryption does GPG use?
GnuPG is a hybrid-encryption software program because it uses a combination of conventional symmetric-key cryptography for speed, and public-key cryptography for ease of secure key exchange, typically by using the recipient’s public key to encrypt a session key which is used only once.
Is GPG and PGP compatible?
Is GnuPG compatible with PGP? In general, yes. GnuPG and newer PGP releases should be implementing the OpenPGP standard.
Should I use GPG keys?
GPG is an excellent method to ensure secure communication between two parties. It allows sensitive information to be easily shared across an insecure network. Asynchronous key cryptography uses public and private keys to encrypt/decrypt messages.
Is it possible to encrypt multiple recipients in GPG?
Yes encryption for multiple recipients is possible. Also it seems logical when you think that you might want to be able to read what you’ve sent to someone and to do so you need to be in the recipients list. Here is how to do it through gpg command line (as described in David Segonds’ answer ):
How to use gpg for symmetric key encryption?
This GPG guide covers how to use the gpg command for simple yet strong symmetric encryption using various different block cipher algorithms. Another type of cryptographic solution provided by Gnu Privacy Guard (GPG) is symmetric-key encryption, also known as block cipher based encryption.
How to encrypt a 256 bit file in GPG?
To encrypt data using 256 bit AES, use the –cipher-algo AES256 option. For example to encrypt a file called file.txt using this cipher, use: gpg –symmetric –cipher-algo AES256 file.txt. This will produce file.txt.gpg containing the encrypted data. You can call the resulting file whatever you like by using the -o (or –output) option.
How is GPG file size with multiple recipients explained?
There is a question on Information Security, GPG File size with multiple recipients?, that explain the encryption mechanism: GPG encrypts the file once with a symmetric key, then places a header identifying the target keypair and an encrypted version of the symmetric key.