Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) What is it, what is it for, and why should you use it to improve your privacy?

Currently, the Internet privacy protection has become one of the most important factors for people and businesses , because so much conversations as data and information treated via the network became the most valuable currency for the vast majority . This is how it all got compelled human beings to take all necessary measures to do so.

Be able to keep the information processed in the computers, smartphones and who are shared over the Internet securely and encryption is the big one goal for everyone , that's why you can currently find programs that will help you in this area, such as Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) being one of most widely used privacy systems in the world today.

Since the privacy is the most important thing for everyone today, here we will explain a little more about PGP software in what it is for, how it works and how it will help you maintain a good level of security and reliability in each of your data. To do this, follow in detail everything we will teach you next in the post.

What is Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) and what is this program for?

Nowadays it has become more than necessary to have to enter your personal data and your e-mail address on both sites to be able to register or access them, by no more homework accept the use of cookies in order to meet patients' view the content. from some websites . All this has led users to leave a trace easily traceable by experts, which can be called a trap to collect user data.

Due to all these types of actions that are currently being experienced on the network, there are programs such as Pretty Good Privacy or also known by its acronym PGP is software that will help you protect all your privacy so that each of your communications are completely secure . Likewise, it will help you to protect every e-mail message you share over the network.

With PGP, you will have the possibility to encrypt any type of information or files that you have on your computer , which will make it virtually impossible for anyone to to access, either for extract information or intercept the content of files . To make sure that all the content you send by e-mail offers you what is digital signature, this will prevent the message to be changed during the sending process.

when e-mail is digitally signed , be able to lead a phishing attack is much more difficult to achieve, as well as the creation of fake messages . Therefore, it is considered that being able to sign all e - mails sent around the world would help solve this type of problem , because for these malicious people, it wouldn't be worth the effort to fake an email .

Who is its creator, Phil Zimmermann?

Phil Zimmermann has created this PGP program over 20 years ago, since then he has done numerous updates in order to improve it and design it according to current needs , taking into account that there is more than 20 years the problems that currently affect millions of users.

At the start of the program launch, the US government has decided to open a investigation against Phil Zimmermann, accused of "Export of ammunition without a license", Parts and accessories the products of 40-bit encryption the more powerful were then considered ammunition . PGP was a 128-bit product that had been published, so it immediately drew the attention of the authorities.

However, after several inquiries and hearings, this whole affair would end up being closed without any charges for Zimmermann. Likewise, this program could be demonstrated as a powerful encryption tool , which aroused a lot of interest from other company shareholders for the software. Phil Zimmermann has managed to position its PGP product on the market as very encryption system powerful .

Or the Free Software Foundation has developed its own free PGP program called GNU Privacy Guard, which would be abbreviated as GnuPG or GPG . It was a question of providing what would be a library for encryption, decryption and electronic signature functions. PGP has a very comfortable interface for users, so working on it will not cause no inconvenience or problem. It is available for all operating systems .

How does Pretty Good Privacy work and what can it do?

Pretty Good Privacy is a software of which the main function is to be able to encrypt and decrypt data with maximum security , this means that they are only accessible via a public key, all this in order to offer a authentication mechanism for some communications and thus be able to improve their confidentiality.

In this way, PGP is characterized by a fairly good privacy for its users. Where this software launched in 1991 has enormous importance in the quality of the world's most widely used cryptographic system, thus respecting the standards OpenPGP .

It was created six years later because Carpenter was very critical to have a open standard both for the company where he worked and for the rest of the community. As to operation of this application, it is based on the combination of several encryption process , such as hashing, symmetric key encryption, public key encryption, and data compression. In the case of public keys, they are always linked to a email address or username.

When the encryption process is done , the program is responsible for data compression and the generation of a unique random key, which will be used for decrypt the message by performing a reverse process on the receiver side, ensuring the message protection and security at any time. In addition, it should be mentioned that it has a support for electronic signatures , which allows verify the authenticity of the message To see if it was sent by anyone or if it has undergone changes along the way .

Why should I use it? Advantages and Benefits of PGP

When using a program particularly related to the user privacy and security, it is very important to be able to know all the details about it, so as its main advantages , because all of this will help you decide whether it worth really there hardly to be installed. or not .

This is why we present below the main advantages that PGP can bring to you both for you as a freelancer or for your company:

• By having a combined use of asymmetric and symmetric encryption, it enables its users to share in safe data and cryptographic information on the Internet.
• Being a system hybrid , this application can benefit la times of the security of asymmetric cryptography and the speed of symmetric encryption.
• In addition to offering safety and speed , it is also distinguished by the service of digital signature , who guarantees the integrity of the data and the authenticity of the sender.
• The use of OpenPGP protocol a allowed the emergence of an environment standardized competition and PGP solutions will now be provided by different companies and organizations .
• All PGP programs conform to OpenPGP standards are compatible with each other, which means that the generated keys et the files from one program can be used in another without problem .

Find out in which programs you can start using PGP

Every time the digital market is gaining momentum, this is how today you can find a large variety of web applications and desktop or mobile programs that run on PGP technology in order to meet patients' encrypt both files and communications.

This is how we will show you here which programs use this type of technology and which you can start using:

GNUPGK

It is based on GnuPG for perform the encryption and decrypt all types of files . In addition, it offers PGP support and a Windows context menu which will allow you to perform actions more easily by simply pressing left mouse button .

Download GNUPGK Windows

GnuPG or GPG

All this works in parallel with the development of PGP, where Open Source took the decision to create its completely free and free alternative . In this way, this tool is available for almost all platforms including OS X via GPG Suite . Its operation is based on a command line and its official site, you will find a graphic environment to use the acronym for GnuPG and GPG .

Download GnuPG MacOS

Enigmail

Enigmail is a extension for Seamonkey and Thunderbird , which will allow you to encrypt emails using the OpenPGP standard. He has a very good compatibility with different mail servers, where it will also allow you to create words de pass for each user account.

Download Enigmail

PGP Desktop - Symantec Encryption

Currently, this tool is known as Symantec Encryption , and it became one of the programs at use PGP was PGP Desktop . However, after having was acquired by Symantec, this program would give way to a series of paid applications , all business-oriented and different possibilities of PGP, such as le encryption of data on local networks, encryption of local hard drives and e-mail encryption .

Download PGP Desktop Windows

Learn step by step how to use Pretty Good Privacy and create public and private keys

Keeping in mind the importance of having a program like Pretty Good Privacy and the benefits it all brings to you , we go you show here how you can start creating PGP public and private keys in a quick and easy way. Here we will explain the process from a Windows computer en using Enigmail.

To do this, follow each of the steps that we will teach you below:

Install Enigmail

• The first step you need to do is to install Enigmail , as mentioned in the previous section, this is a extension or add-on , its installation is therefore different from any other PGP tool . The first thing you need to do is enter your favorite browser , in this case we will use There, you must enter the "Menu" button and in the options that appear there, choose "Add-ons".

• This will automatically bring you to the window "Plugin Manager".
• Now, in the search field that appears at the top of the screen, you must type "Enigmail" for the system to search for this extension on Mozilla Add-ons website .

• After a few seconds, Enigmail will appear first in the list , there you have to click on "Install".

• When the add-on has already been installed, the system will ask you to restart browser so that the extension can be activated. To do this, select the option "Restart now" and wait for the system to reboot completely.

• Once Mozilla has restarted, a extra window open to for start the extension configuration procedure , here you have to select the "Start configuration now" item then click on "Following".

Required parameters

Once the extension installed, which following will do the necessary configuration. , is recommended to Enigmail users de disable them HTML services , because in the activating, they could receive attacks from there .