CryptoParty HOWTO GPG

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Overview

For an overview of how public key encryption works, this is an excellent explanation: Public Key Cryptography: Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange.

GPG is a tool that does several things, but mostly it is used to generate a public/private key pair and maintains a user's keychain - the set of public keys from all their contacts. Thunderbird is an email client, and Enigmail is the plug-in that uses GPG for that platform to integrate that into a user's email account.

The first step is to install GPG for your platform. There are instructions for Linux, Mac, and Windows below. After that, the next step is to install Thunderbird, a mail client. You don't need a new email account - this setup works with your existing email account. After confirming that Thunderbird can send/receive email, Enigmail plug-in can be installed and configured to use the GPG on your platform. The next step is generate a public-private key pair, and publish your public key (so others can find your public key to send you encrypted email). Then finally you can send an encrypted email!

Platform-Specific GPG Install

Linux

OS X (Macintosh)

Windows

Thunderbird+Enigmail