For those who communicate with other users, customers, companies and others through emails, they know in advance that security and privacy is vital. It is not something that you can leave in the hands of the platforms you use.
That is why OpenPGP is a technology that came to help you with encryption, security and information that you want to keep safe. What’s more, you could use OpenPGP to encrypt and protect the messages in an email when it is sent.
What is the OpenPGP protocol about?
What is known as OpenPGP is nothing more than a protocol which is implemented to encrypt messages , as well as files and also demonstrate the authenticity that the sender of an email message has been sent. This goes very hand in hand with the digital signatures that each user has or generates when generating and sending an email.
This is possible thanks to the fact that said encryption is done by means of two types of keys: one has to be public and the other private. These keys are shared with third parties so they can see the information contained in the message.
The good news for you or for those looking to encrypt messages and even important information, you can choose to download OpenPGP from its official website . It is worth mentioning that it is a multiplatform program. Which means that you can install it on Windows, Linux, MacOS, IOS, Android, and more.
How does OpenPGP work?
As we already mentioned, this is a security-oriented protocol . Thanks to it, you can take emails, files and even entire storage disks and encrypt them. So that only those who have the corresponding credentials can have access to the encrypted information.
It is worth mentioning that thanks to OpenPGP it is possible to add a digital signature to the message , so that the recipient has the facility to verify that the message is reliable and real. Of course, you need the two keys that we already gave you.
Can the OpenPGP protocol be considered a physical security measure in operating systems ? Although it is an interesting question, this is a technology that is limited to the use of computer software and code. But that does not take away from the fact that it is a fairly reliable and stable security measure .
So that you can understand it a little better, when encrypting a file or message with this protocol, whoever receives this must have the public key. This is the only way that the encryption algorithms can be solved.
Does OpenPGP encryption protocols have any benefit?
The truth is that the benefits of using this technology are quite extensive, but to focus on the most important ones, the best benefits of OpenPGP encryption are as follows:
- You can encrypt any message you want and only the recipient with the public key will have access to the information that message contains. That’s a huge benefit since it increases emails significantly .
- The compatibility with operating systems today covers almost all existing ones. In such a way that you can download applications for Android or choose programs for your computer. Believe it or not, this helps you determine if a Malware virus is stealing your information , and it also allows you to prevent your computer from being infected with these viruses.
- The use of this encryption is too simple and intuitive. So no specialized learning is required to implement it in what you need.
- The decryption process can be carried out in very few steps and in a very simple way.
- It is a security system (so to speak) that goes perfectly with all those files that instead of being stored in the internal memory of the device, are hosted in the cloud.
- You do not need to pay absolutely anything for a membership when using OpenPGP .
Perhaps at first it will be difficult for you to use this protocol in your day to day, in your emails or even personally on your computer . But over time, you will notice that it is something that you needed and that you can get the most out of it.