Encryption is the best solution if you are concerned about online and privacy. By using strong encryption protocols, you can make sure that your data is safe from prying eyes, and that only the people who you decide should see your information have access to it. One of the most common methods for encryption is called PGP or Pretty Good Privacy.
In this article, we will discuss what PGP is, how it works, and how it helps the blockchain space.
Defining PGP Encryption
Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is an encryption system used to decrypt and encrypt email and authenticate email messages through digital signatures and file encryption. Since its invention back in 1991 by Paul Zimmerman, PGP has become the de facto standard for email security, and later in blockchain technology.
Email is the primary channel being attacked by cyber criminals, which they easily forge messages using a victim’s name or identity. PGP aims to solve this and enhance email security by encrypting the data to make the communication method more private.
PGP was one of the first public-key cryptography software publicly available for free. Originally, it was used to enable individual users to communicate on bulletin board system computer servers. Later, it was standardized and supported by other applications such as email. It has now become a core standard in email security and has been widely used to protect individuals and organizations.
The data encryption program provides cryptographic authentication and privacy for data used in online communication. This allows PGP to be used for encrypting and decrypting text messages, emails, and files.
How does PGP Encryption work?
PGP encryption provides the essential privacy missing from online communication by transforming plain, readable text into a complex code of characters that are unreadable. The outlet of communication (email, file, etc.) travels to the destination of the recipient in this ciphered form. The recipient then uses PGP to decrypt the message back into readable form. PGP encryption is done via software applications.
In this system, each user has a PGP encryption key that is publicly known and can be provided to the recipient, as well as a private key that is known only to each user and should be kept secret. The public key encrypts the message or file, while the private key decrypts.
For sending files, more specifically, the sender will need to have access to the recipient’s public key first before they can send their files. Once the file is compressed, PGP will efficiently encrypt the plaintext with private key cryptography, turning the message into ciphertext. The session key is then encrypted using the sender’s public key. Once the recipient has received the encrypted file, they can decrypt it using their private key.
This encryption standard addresses the issues of data authentication and non-repudiation through the ability to “sign” files via embedded digital signatures. Digital signatures use public-key cryptography to authenticate that data is coming from the source it claims to be from and has not been tampered with. Digital signatures are sent alongside the message body and work by using an algorithm to combine the sender’s private key with the data they are authenticating. The process makes digital signatures essentially impossible to forge unless the private key has been compromised.
How is PGP Encryption used in blockchain?
The most common reason for PGP encryption use is to allow people to confidentially send messages and data to each other using a combination of their public and private keys. It is often used to encrypt and decrypt emails, files, text messages, and entire disk partitions, and to authenticate digital certificates.
Encrypting Emails
PGP is most commonly used to encrypt email messages. It was initially used by anyone wanting to share sensitive information, such as activists and journalists. But its popularity has increased significantly in the face of organizations, government agencies collecting user data, and in the crypto space, as people look to keep their personal and sensitive information private.
Digital Signature Verification
PGP is also used to verify emails. For example, if an email recipient is not sure about the identity of the people sending them an email, they can use a digital signature in conjunction with PGP to verify their identity.
A digital signature works through algorithms that combine a sender’s key with the data they try to send in an email message. This creates a hash function, which is an algorithm that converts the email message into a fixed-size block of data. That data is then encrypted using the email sender’s private key, and the recipient can decrypt the message using the sender’s public key.
As a result, the recipient will know whether any character in the message has been amended in transit. This tells them whether the sender is who they claim to be, whether a fake digital signature has been used, or if the email message has been tampered with or hacked.
Encrypting Files
The algorithm that PGP uses, which is typically the RSA algorithm, is largely considered unbreakable, which makes it ideal for encrypting files. It is particularly effective when used with a threat detection and response tool. File encryption software enables users to encrypt all of their files while removing the complexity of the encryption-decryption process.
Advantages and disadvantages PGP Encryption
For its advantages, PGP allows users to securely share information and cryptographic keys through the Internet. As a hybrid system, PGP benefits from both the security of asymmetric cryptography and the speed of symmetric encryption. In addition to security and speed, digital signatures ensure the integrity of the data and authenticity of the sender.
The OpenPGP protocol allowed for the emergence of a standardized competitive environment and PGP solutions are now provided by multiple companies and organizations. Still, all PGP programs that comply with the OpenPGP standards are compatible with each other. This means that files and keys generated in one program may be used in another without problems.
Regarding the disadvantages, PGP systems are not that simple to use and understand, especially for users with little technical knowledge. Also, the long length of the public keys is deemed by many as quite inconvenient. In 2018, a major vulnerability called EFAIL was published by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). EFAIL made it possible for attackers to exploit active HTML content in encrypted emails to gain access to the plaintext versions of messages.
However, some of the concerns described by EFAIL were already known by the PGP community since the late 1990s and, in fact, the vulnerabilities are related to the different implementations on the part of email clients, and not with PGP itself. So despite the alarming and misleading headlines, PGP is not broken and continues to be highly secure.
Final Thoughts
PGP has been an essential tool for data protection nowadays and is used in a wide range of applications, providing privacy, security, and authentication for several communication systems and digital service providers. While the 2018 discovery of the EFAIL flaw raised significant concerns about the protocol’s viability, the core technology is still regarded as robust and cryptographically sound.
You don’t have to understand the complicated cryptomaths behind PGP to know that it’s a great encryption system, nor be a computer genius to take advantage of it to encrypt your emails and files, significantly increasing your safety.
