In my previous post, I discussed the workings of PGP e-mail encryption, as well as the rationale behind it. To recap: unencrypted e-mail is like a postcard, viewable to anyone who intercepts it. Encrypted e-mail is in a metaphorical envelope, signed and sealed.  PGP encryption takes a little bit of extra effort, but if you want to keep your data private, it’s worth it.  This time, I’ll show you how it’s done.

1. If you’re using Windows, download GNU Privacy Guard for Windows (GnuPG).
   • If you’re a Mac or Linux user, you’ll have to figure out for yourself which program best suits your needs. This page is a good place to start.
   • Run the installer application, follow the instructions, etc.
2. Open the program called GPA and click Keys > New Key.
3. Put your real name in the “User ID” field and fill in your e-mail address of choice. The passphrase ought to be something long, but still easy for you to remember. Keep it secret and safe, just as you would any other password.
4. Finally, select an expiration date for your key. If you think you’ll be using the e-mail address you entered for the rest of your life, it’s okay to leave this field blank.  Otherwise, it’s easier to let your key expire and make a new one than to edit it and try to somehow distribute the new version to everyone you know.  Hit OK.  Congratulations, you have a key pair!
5. If any of your contacts also have public keys and have posted them to the Internet, you can import them into your keyring (basically an address book for your friends’ keys).  Save your contact’s key to your hard drive as a text file, then (still in the GPA program) click “Import,” find the file, and hit OK.

So, how to actually encrypt and decrypt e-mail?  Well, if you’re using the best web browser (Mozilla Firefox) and the best webmail service (Gmail, natch), then the FireGPG plugin makes it incredibly easy.  (Install it and hit “Compose Mail” in Gmail, and you’ll see what I mean.)  Most other popular e-mail programs will have plugins as well; here’s a fairly comprehensive list (scroll down to “Plugins”).

If you have any questions, please ask in the comments and I’ll do my best to help!

Tags: internet, privacy //