Why You Should Start Using GPG Now

If you’re not using GPG to sign or encrypt your files and messages yet, it’s time to reconsider. It’s not just about looking like a 90s movie hacker — it’s about protecting your communication and digital identity in an increasingly hostile world.

🔐 What is GPG?

GPG (GNU Privacy Guard) is a free implementation of the OpenPGP standard. It allows you to create cryptographic key pairs to digitally sign files and messages, as well as encrypt them to ensure confidentiality. It’s an essential tool for anyone serious about digital security.

🧠 Why Use It?

• Digital Signature: Proves that you are the author of a file or message (Every page on this site is signed, for example).
• Encryption: Ensures that only the intended recipient can read the content.
• Control: You manage your own keys without relying on third parties.
• Trust: Establishes a web of trust among users.

💾 Key Backup

Losing your private key means losing access to everything encrypted or signed with it. To prevent this, make regular backups and store them securely.

⚠️ Quantum Computing: A Real Threat

Quantum computing is advancing rapidly and poses a significant threat to current encryption algorithms like RSA and DSA. It’s estimated that within 10 to 20 years, quantum computers could break these encryptions, compromising the security of sensitive data.

To mitigate this risk, NIST is developing post-quantum cryptography standards. GnuPG is keeping pace with these developments and plans to incorporate support for post-quantum algorithms, such as ML-KEM (Kyber) and ML-DSA (Dilithium), in future versions. (source)

🚀 Start Now

The best way to prepare for the future is to start now. Install GPG, generate your keys, and integrate encryption into your daily workflow. Digital security is an ongoing journey, and every step counts.

📜 Useful GPG Commands

🔹 Key Backup

• Export your private key:

gpg --export-secret-keys --armor > private-key.asc

• Export your public key:

gpg --export --armor > public-key.asc

• Export owner trust:

gpg --export-ownertrust > trust.txt

🔹 Key Management

• Edit an existing key:

gpg --edit-key your@email.com

• Generate a revocation certificate:

gpg --gen-revoke your@email.com

• Import a received public key:

gpg --import public-key.asc

🔹 Keyservers

• Send a key to a keyserver:

gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --send-keys <Key_ID>

• Fetch a public key from a keyserver:

gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys <Key_ID>

🔹 File and Directory Encryption

• Encrypt an entire directory:

tar cz folder/ | gpg --encrypt --recipient your@email.com > folder.tar.gz.gpg

• Decrypt the encrypted directory:

gpg --decrypt folder.tar.gz.gpg | tar xz

Note: This post serves as a reminder to myself and to anyone who cares about digital security. Don’t wait until it’s too late to protect your information.