Gpg

GnuPG (GPG), short for GNU Privacy Guard, is a free and open-source implementation of the OpenPGP standard, enabling users to encrypt and sign data and communications. GPG is widely used for secure email communication, file encryption, and digital signatures, ensuring the confidentiality and authenticity of data.

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Features

1. Encryption and Decryption:
   • GPG allows users to encrypt data so that only the intended recipient with the correct private key can decrypt it.
   • It supports both symmetric (single-key) and asymmetric (public/private key) encryption.
2. Digital Signatures:
   • Users can sign messages and files to provide proof of authenticity and integrity.
   • Signatures can be verified by others using the corresponding public key, ensuring that the data has not been tampered with.
3. Key Management:
   • GPG provides robust tools for generating, importing, exporting, and managing public and private keys.
   • It supports creating revocation certificates, allowing users to revoke their keys if they are compromised.

Basic Usage

1. Generating a Key Pair: gpg --full-generate-key
2. Encrypting a File: gpg --output file.txt.gpg --encrypt --recipient [email protected] file.txt
   • --output specifies the output file.
   • --encrypt tells GPG to encrypt the file.
   • --recipient specifies the recipient’s email or key ID.
3. Decrypting a File: gpg --output file.txt --decrypt file.txt.gpg
4. Signing a File: gpg --output file.sig --sign file.txt gpg --clearsign file.txt
5. Verifying a Signature: gpg --verify file.sig file.txt

Key Management

1. Importing a Public Key: If you receive someone’s public key, you can import it into your keyring: gpg --import publickey.asc
2. Exporting a Public Key: gpg --output publickey.asc --export --armor [email protected]
3. Listing Keys: gpg --list-keys gpg --list-secret-keys
4. Revoking a Key: gpg --import revocation-cert.asc