4.2.5. Using GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG)
GnuPG (GPG) is used to identify yourself and authenticate your communications, including those with people you don't know. GPG allows anyone reading a GPG-signed email to verify its authenticity. In other words, GPG allows someone to be reasonably certain that communications signed by you actually are from you. GPG is useful because it helps prevent third parties from altering code or intercepting conversations and altering the message.
GPG can also be used to sign and/or encrypt files kept on your computer or on a network drive. This can add additional protection in preventing a file from being altered or read by unauthorized people.
To utilize GPG for authentication or encryption of email you must first generate your public and private keys. After generating the keys you will have to setup your email client to utilize them.
4.2.5.1. Generating GPG Keys in GNOME
The Seahorse utility makes GPG key management easier. You can install Seahorse at the command line with the command su -c "yum install seahorse" or in the GUI using Add/Remove Software.
To create a key select Passwords and Keys, which starts the application Seahorse. From the File menu select New then PGP Key then select Continue. Type your full name, email address, and an optional comment describing who are you (e.g.: John C. Smith, jsmith@example.com, The Man). Select Create. A dialog is displayed asking for a passphrase for the key. Choose a strong passphrase but also easy to remember. Click OK and the key is created.
If you forget your passphrase, the key cannot be used and any data encrypted using that key will be lost.
To find your GPG key ID, look in the Key ID column next to the newly created key. In most cases, if you are asked for the key ID, you should prepend "0x" to the key ID, as in "0x6789ABCD". You should make a backup of your private key and store it somewhere secure.
