Using PGP keys with email

[rogerc]

I just installed the latest PGP freeware but don't understand how to exchange and use keys.

For example, I want to send encrypted email to my dad. (I use Eudora 5.x, and he uses Netscape Navigator.) I have PGP installed, and he does not.

My questions are:

* Must my dad have PGP installed to receive encrypted email?
* How do I send him my public key? (I tried dragging and dropping it into a piece of email and then sending it.)
* What does he do when he receives the key -- store it somewhere?
* How does he use my public key when I send him encrypted email?
* When he replies to my encrypted email, will the reply I receive be encrypted?
* If I receive an encrypted reply, do I use my private key to read it? If so, how do I use the private key?
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RogerC

 

[Tardigrade]

First off PGP can lull you into a false sense of security if you do not completely understand the principles involved so I'd advise reading the pdf docs that came with your PGP freeware (they are a bit long-winded I know)...

* Must my dad have PGP installed to receive encrypted email?

Yes most definitely, as far as I know there isn't a PGP plug-in for NS, so in order for him to use PGP easily he should set himself up with either eudora or oulook express. It is possible to use PGP without the email client plug-ins but it's a bit of a hassle

* How do I send him my public key? (I tried dragging and dropping it into a piece of email and then sending it.)

I'm not using windows right now so I can't remember the exact procedure but there should be an option somewhere to export your public key to an armoured ascii file which you can then attach to a plaintext email to send to him

* What does he do when he receives the key -- store it somewhere?

He has to add your key to his public keyring

* How does he use my public key when I send him encrypted email?

He'll have to use a client with a plug-in, then he just selects encrypted from the menu and PGP will find the key that corresponds to your email address and encrypt it using that

* When he replies to my encrypted email, will the reply I receive be encrypted?

Only if he specifies it to be so

* If I receive an encrypted reply, do I use my private key to read it? If so, how do I use the private key?

Eudora should detect that the message is encrypted and then ask you for your passphrase before unencrypting the message and displaying it.

There's a lot to take in when you first use PGP, but once you've got it up and running it's pretty easy to use, Eudora in particualr makes using PGP relatively stress free.

Good Luck
--
Scott