PGP & GPG | Privacy Technology for Medical Doctors (2024)

What is PGP and GPG?

PGP stand for Pretty Good Privacy. GPG stands for GNU privacy Guard. Both of these programs are used to encrypt and decrypt data, messages, and emails. The difference between the two is that GPG is open-sourced where PGP is not. The technical explanation behind how these two programs work is very complicated and rigorous. However the basic idea behind them is just as useful to understand. These programs use mathematical algorithms to generate two keys for each person using them. One key is known as the public key and is available for the general public. The other key is a private key and should only be known by the individual. When two people use these programs, they exchange their public keys but not their private keys. The only way to decrypt the message sent from one individual to the other is by using their own private key. Here is a video that better explains the idea:

How to use GPA/GPG?

The following list of steps are used for setting up encrypted email on a given computer.

1. Go to http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/and download Mozilla Thunderbird

PGP & GPG | Privacy Technology for Medical Doctors (1)

2. After Thunderbird is downloaded, go tohttp://gpg4win.org/and download Gpg4win

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3. Select GPA as one of the downloads

4. Once GPA is downloaded, open GPA and press ctrl+N to generate a new key

5. You will have to enter your name and email address before the program starts generating a key

6. While its generating the key, the program will ask you to enter a passphrase NOTE: this passphrase is used in the instance your private key is compromised, another auntecation level is needed to access your email.

7. After your public and private key is generated, go to Thunderbird and click on Add-ons.

8. In the Add-ons, search forEngimail and download this add-on.

9. After all these steps have been fulfilled, your computer is ready to send encrypted emails.

10. Go to Thunderbrid and click on “Write”

11. In the taskbar, click on “OpenPGP” and click on “Encrypt Message”

12. Enter the recipients email address. NOTE: You must have the recipient public key.

13. Enter the text in the subject line and type the email.

14. Click Send.

15. The recipient should receive the message and would have to enter their passphraseto decrypt the message.

Uses of Encrypted Emails in the MedicalField

Encrypted Emails can change the way doctors and patients communicate because unlike regular emails, encrypted emails are many folds more secure. Without the private key or the passphrase, compromising a patient’s or doctor’s email would be virtually impossible. Although PGP and GPG are similar to Cryptocat in that they send encrypted messages, PGP and GPG would only be used if the patient and doctor are not having a back and forth conversation. Cryptocat is useful in that it is much more apt for real time, back and forth conversation.

PGP & GPG | Privacy Technology for Medical Doctors (2024)

FAQs

PGP & GPG | Privacy Technology for Medical Doctors? ›

PGP

PGP
Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is an encryption program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. PGP is used for signing, encrypting, and decrypting texts, e-mails, files, directories, and whole disk partitions and to increase the security of e-mail communications.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Pretty_Good_Privacy
stand for Pretty Good Privacy. GPG stands for GNU privacy Guard. Both of these programs are used to encrypt and decrypt data, messages, and emails. The difference between the two is that GPG is open-sourced where PGP is not.

What is PGP and GPG? ›

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) and GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) are two cryptographic software tools that enable data encryption, authentication, and integrity. These tools primarily secure email communications and transfer files.

Does anyone still use PGP? ›

Yes, PGP encryption is still used and is considered an industry standard for protecting sensitive information. Both commercial and free, open-source implementations of PGP are available. Commercial solutions offer technical support that may be lacking in freeware tools.

What is PGP technology? ›

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is a security program used to decrypt and encrypt email and authenticate email messages through digital signatures and file encryption. PGP was first designed and developed in 1991 by Paul Zimmerman, a political activist.

What are the 5 services of PGP? ›

PGP was designed to provide all four aspects of security, i.e., privacy, integrity, authentication, and non-repudiation in the sending of email. PGP uses a digital signature (a combination of hashing and public key encryption) to provide integrity, authentication, and non-repudiation.

What does GPG stand for? ›

The grain per gallon (gpg) is a unit of water hardness defined as 1 grain (64.8 milligrams) of calcium carbonate dissolved in 1 US gallon of water (3.785412 L). It translates into 1 part in about 58,000 parts of water or 17.1 parts per million (ppm). Also called Clark degree (in terms of an imperial gallon).

What are the benefits of GPG? ›

With GPG, users can open and decrypt files encrypted by PGP and/or Open PGP, meaning it works well with other products. It also provides support for S/MIME and Secure Shell (SSH). Overall, GPG provides an interface for users to easily encrypt their files. Related Reading: PGP vs.

What replaced PGP? ›

Modern alternative: nacl/box and nacl/secretbox. These are general-purpose replacements for encrypting any kind of data. They support public-key and secret-key encryption, respectively, and both use secure modern modes and ciphers.

Is GPG still used? ›

GPG is in use today by journalists, business leaders, universities, and others who wish to keep the transmission of messages and data secure. The primary issues with GPG continue to be user acceptance, key handling, and the lack of understanding surrounding the complexity of key creation and exchange.

Has PGP been broken? ›

Is PGP Encryption Secure? PGP encryption is almost impossible to hack. That's why it's still used by entities that send and receive sensitive information, such as journalists and hacktivists. Though PGP encryption cannot be hacked, OpenPGP does have a vulnerability that disrupts PGP encrypted messages when exploited.

Is PGP software free? ›

Free PGP Encryption Software for Windows and More

GoAnywhere Open PGP Studio is free PGP encryption software that simplifies and secures your data before, during, and after your file transfers.

How can I use PGP? ›

Basic steps for using PGP
  1. Install PGP on your computer.
  2. Create a private and public key pair. Before you can begin using PGP, you need to generate a key pair. ...
  3. Exchange public keys with others. ...
  4. Validate public keys. ...
  5. Encrypt and sign your email and files. ...
  6. Decrypt and verify your email and files. ...
  7. Wipe files.

What are the advantages of PGP? ›

Data Confidentiality: PGP uses strong encryption algorithms that help to ensure that sensitive, encrypted data remains private. Data Integrity: The digital signature algorithms used are equally secure, providing strong authentication of the sender's identity and that data has not been modified in transit.

What is the difference between GPG and PGP? ›

PGP stand for Pretty Good Privacy. GPG stands for GNU privacy Guard. Both of these programs are used to encrypt and decrypt data, messages, and emails. The difference between the two is that GPG is open-sourced where PGP is not.

What is PGP in SAP? ›

PGP is a widely used encryption program to encrypt and decrypt files. PGP uses a variation of the public key (PK) system where each user has a publicly known encryption key and a private key known only to that user. The LMS connectors have the ability to process PGP encrypted input files.

How do I get a PGP key? ›

Generate A Key Pair
  1. Open a command shell or DOS prompt.
  2. On the command line, enter: pgp --gen-key [user ID] --key-type [key type] --bits [bits #] --passphrase [passphrase] ...
  3. Press "Enter" when the command is complete. ...
  4. PGP Command line will now generate your keypair. ...
  5. To display your new keypair enter the following command:
Jan 31, 2024

What is PGP? ›

The PGPX (One Year MBA) is a Full time Post Graduate Programme in Management for experienced professionals. It is designed for ambitious executives who want to step up their career potential, confidently shoulder high-level responsibilities, bring forward game-changing ideas and prepare for a shifting global economy.

What are PGP and GPG both used to encrypt? ›

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) and Gnu Privacy Guard (GPG) are both used to encrypt: e-mail messages and their attachments. In a relational database, what distinguishes a primary key from other database components? The primary key uniquely identifies each record in a database table.

What encryption is GPG? ›

GnuPG is a hybrid-encryption software program because it uses a combination of conventional symmetric-key cryptography for speed, and public-key cryptography for ease of secure key exchange, typically by using the recipient's public key to encrypt a session key which is used only once.

What is a PGP file type? ›

PGP is an encrypted file extension. The file is encrypted using a public key. If you want to access the contents of a . PGP file you need to have the corresponding private key.

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