[tengusec]

You might have seen PGP or GPG keys floating around in profiles or forum posts. Here's a crash course for the noobs and a (high-level) refresher for the grizzled veterans among us.

PGP Basics:
PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) and its open-source cousin, GPG (GNU Privacy Guard), are all about encrypting your digital messages. The core of PGP encryption lies in key pairs: a public key and a private key.

Public and Private Keys: 
Your public key is like a padlock; anyone can use it to lock (encrypt) a message for you. But the magic happens with your private key – it's the only key that can unlock (decrypt) that message. Share your public key openly, but guard your private key like your life depends on it.

PGP, OpenPGP, and GPG: 
PGP kicked off this encryption party in the early '90s. OpenPGP is the standard that evolved from PGP, while GPG is the modern, open-source version you'll bump into most often.

PGP Tools and How-to:
You've got options when it comes to PGP tools. Here's the deal:

• GPG Command Line: For the terminal lovers, GPG is your go-to. Install it using your favorite package manager (Linux, MacOS, Windows).
  
• ProtonMail: Already using ProtonMail? Congrats, you're in the PGP game. ProtonMail automates PGP encryption for both internal and external comms.
  
• GPGTools for Apple Mail: Mac users, check out GPGTools to integrate GPG with your Apple Mail.
  
• Keybase: A decent way to share your keys, but be mindful of your opsec, especially if you have something to hide. Also has a messenger client.
  

Using PGP:

1. Install your chosen PGP tool and generate your key pair.
   
2. Securely back up your keys. (Literally just don't lose them)
   
3. Share your public key with targets for encrypted conversations. (Don't send your private key, duh)
   
4. Add your target's public key to your PGP tool to encrypt messages they can decrypt. (The message is like a box that requires two keys to open, so you need their public key and they need their own private key. The same is true when responding)
   
5. Encrypt your message using their public key, paste it into any platform (like Gmail), and send it off. It'll be a jumble of characters to anyone but your target because it's encrypted. Obviously.
   
6. Decrypt messages from them using your private key.
   

Conclusion:
PGP is your way to stay private in a world of open comms. Keep your private keys safe, and you can have secure conversations anywhere.

TL;DR:

1. Get your accomplices' public keys and give them yours. 
   
2. Everyone write and encrypt and sign with their own private keys and send the encrypted message. 
   
3. Use their public keys to decrypt the messages from them. 
   
4. ???
   
5. Profit
   

[bokkoe]

Very nice refresher! Thanks for sharing

[bardnar]

Very nice refresher! Thanks for sharing

nice reminder, thank you for this