Silk Road forums

Discussion => Newbie discussion => Topic started by: JeffBobb on May 22, 2013, 09:15 am

Title: Where can I get PGP???!!! Please Help!!
Post by: JeffBobb on May 22, 2013, 09:15 am
Ok, I just got done researching PGP as best I could.  And there's TONS OF SHIT about PGP, OPEN  PGP, GNUGP, - I have no idea where to start.  I see that Symantec now owns PGP and they charge well over $100 for the version.  I've looked up OpenPGP which is supposed to be the freeware version - I think - and I get a bunch of mirror sites that no longer work.  Can anyone provide me with 1 or more links where I can FINALLY download this damn thing with out so much hassle???  Much appreciated, Folks. 
Title: Re: Where can I get PGP???!!! Please Help!!
Post by: partycat on May 22, 2013, 09:22 am
Assuming you're on Windows, you should get Gpg4win. During installation, you should select to install GPA. It's fully possible to use Kleopatra (I use it because GPA crashes a lot for me), but GPA is much more convenient.
Title: Re: Where can I get PGP???!!! Please Help!!
Post by: JeffBobb on May 22, 2013, 09:24 am
Assuming you're on Windows, you should get Gpg4win. During installation, you should select to install GPA. It's fully possible to use Kleopatra (I use it because GPA crashes a lot for me), but GPA is much more convenient.

What is GPA??  And what is Kleopatra??   
Title: Re: Where can I get PGP???!!! Please Help!!
Post by: DrCol on May 22, 2013, 09:32 am
I'm surprised you've fully researched yet still have difficulty...

There are numerous dedicated threads on the subject on these very forums, so have a good read here.

It's not terribly complex...are you familiar with encryption and terminal use?...if not, get up to speed...

Cheers and good luck

Doc
Title: Re: Where can I get PGP???!!! Please Help!!
Post by: DrCol on May 22, 2013, 09:33 am
PS - the very first pinned thread on here is for this subject :)
Title: Re: Where can I get PGP???!!! Please Help!!
Post by: partycat on May 22, 2013, 09:46 am
What is GPA??  And what is Kleopatra??

They're both applications that do essentially the same thing, being key/certificate managers. GPA is an abbreviation of Gnu Privacy Assistant, and is the "official" graphical user interface for GnuPG.

Basically, (once again, assuming you're on Windows), you download GPG4Win (gpg4win.org [please use your regular browser to navigate here]), it will be a pretty straight-forward installation but GPA isn't selected to be installed by default. Kleopatra is, however. You can run the install again afterwards if you didn't select GPA the first time, and install GPA if you want at a later point.

When you open either of the programs, it will ask you to create a key. For your anonymity's sake, don't use your real name or an email that can be linked to your identity.
 
Use a passphrase you can remember, though because if people want to message you with encrypted messages you will have to input your passphrase to decrypt them.

Now that your key has been made, you can export your certificate/key by right clicking it and select to export. It will ask you to save a file, and you can open that file in a text editor to get your public key. This one is safe to share with others, and it's what others will use to encrypt messages that only you can read later. Never ever share your secret key.

If you wish to encrypt a message to someone else, you'll have to have their public key. Save their public key as a file on your harddrive, and import it in GPA/Kleopatra. You can't use other people's public keys to decrypt anything.

This is the big difference between GPA and Kleopatra, in my opinion; You can easily make an encrypted message for someone else by going to GPA's clipboard and write your message, then select to encrypt using the recipient's public key that you have saved. It'll tell you that you can't decrypt it after you have encrypted it, just as a reminder (not that you don't know what it says anyway). Then it will output the encrypted message that you can give to them.
They will then decrypt that message using their private key and passphrase.

In Kleopatra, you'll have to create a file with your message, a regular txt file is fine. Then you'll have to go to File -> Sign/Encrypt Files -> select your file containing the message -> Encypt, and make sure the Text output (ASCII armor) checkbox is checked -> add the recipient's public key that you've saved -> Encrypt.
It will then output a file named the same as your file, and .asc at the end. You can open this file in a text editor and copy the contents to send to the person you encrypted the message for.

When other people want to encrypt a message to you, they'll need to do the same steps with your public key. When you receive it, you will have to use your passphrase to decode it. It's pretty simple, actually! Try posting your public key in the Newbie PGP Club and have a quick conversation with someone, in private!

I hope this quick guide will help you take the first few steps. :)
Title: Re: Where can I get PGP???!!! Please Help!!
Post by: b85ZpYX on May 23, 2013, 05:15 pm
Gpg4win is absolutely the best way to go, install GPA only
Title: Re: Where can I get PGP???!!! Please Help!!
Post by: tree on May 23, 2013, 05:22 pm
http://gpg4usb.cpunk.de/download.html <--- gpg4usb, the best PGP software IMO.
Title: Re: Where can I get PGP???!!! Please Help!!
Post by: proxanne on May 23, 2013, 05:34 pm
http://gpg4usb.cpunk.de/download.html <--- gpg4usb, the best PGP software IMO.

I second tree.  I downloaded gpg4usb and learned the basics in < 10 minutes.  It also has the advantage of running from a usb.
Title: Re: Where can I get PGP???!!! Please Help!!
Post by: arananegro on May 23, 2013, 06:36 pm
^^^^^ I agree.  It had me super confused too even after a ton of research then i found this.
http://32yehzkk7jflf6r2.onion/gpg4usb/
walks you through downloading and setting up gpg4usb
Good luck!