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How to protect your email and files on your computer from prying eyes

Data\GnuPG. GnuPG is a program with command-line interface which could cause problems for inexperienced users, so we'll not encrypt anything on the command line. Install Thunderbird and Enigmail.

KEY GENERATION

Now we need to generate our private key pair. Let's do that by opening OpenPGP/Key Management/Generate/New Key Pair in Thunderbird.

Specify the email address which will be used with this key. Enter password for the key. For the password it is recommended to use all possible combinations - letters, numbers, commas, periods, etc. Now specify key expiration date. I personally recommend some 1-2 years. Why? That's because you'll generate the key only once and it's 99% that you'll lose the files required to recover the key if it's lost. Key length - 4096 bytes. Key type - DSA. That's all. Press "Generate Key". Depending on your computer's speed the key can take up to 10 minutes to generate.

Now close the window and the new key appears. Your own key will always be in bold, the keys (public ones) which belong to others - normal text.

Click the right mouse button on YOUR key and upload it to the keyserver. I recommend pgp.mit.edu. These servers are being used so others can find and download your key. Each key has its own unique ID and usually it's in this format - 0x500E3BE6. Now select Tools/Account Settings in Thunderbird and we can see that each account has a OpenPGP Security option available now. Check "Use specific OpenPGP key ID" and choose your own key. In the same window select the option to SIGN all - encrypted and unencrypted messages.

KEY REVOCATION

In case you need to revoke the key, the only way to do it is with revocation certificate. To create one, go to OpenGPG/Key Management/Generate/Revocation Certificate. REMEMBER - nobody should be allowed to access this certificate as well as your private key. The best way to protect the certificate is to save it on some removable media.

RECIPIENT AND KEY CONFIGURATION

To send an encrypted mail you have to use your private and recipient's public key. To do that we have to make sure that the recipient is using GPG and has uploaded his public key to the keyserver. We have 3 ways:

1. We can just sign the letter with the key
2. We can encrypt the letter
3. We can sign and encrypt the letter

If we only sign the letter, everyone can read the letter but only the recipient is able to make sure that the sender was you. If we encrypt the letter then only the recipient will be able to read it. To make sure that the recipient will


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