Working with PGP - Speedcrypt File Encryption

The extremely powerful Encryption Engine called PGP, due to its functional characteristics, deserves a complete page in this guide for the Speedcrypt Project. To encrypt data with this engine, it is necessary to make a series of arrangements that allow you to fully exploit all the functionalities of the algorithm. Let's see, therefore, how to prepare the program to obtain a good Encryption Process with PGP.

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) generates two Keys, one public and one private, both of which are linked to an initial Master Key. Before generating the Keys, which occurs in the Speedcrypt Project at the time of Encryption, it will be necessary to prepare a folder that contains these Keys. Once the encryption process is complete, it is advisable to move the Private Key to a safe location and return it to the destination folder when you decide to decrypt the files.

On the Speedcrypt page called Settings, in the Crypto Engines section, it is possible to set the PGP Engine and the folder that will contain the Keys for running encryption tests using this algorithm. The folder prepared for encrypting files should not be the same as the one that will contain the Keys for the tests. Any attempt in this regard will be immediately rejected by the program:

Note: once the keys are stored in a folder, they will be usable in only one encryption process. If you attempt to encrypt in multiple processes, they will be overwritten. Speedcrypt will alert the user if it detects such a situation before proceeding with the overwrite procedure. To properly operate the PGP Engine, you must follow the following scheme:

Always remember that it is possible to recover deleted data: the Deletion Process offered by the operating system is the easiest to bypass. If you generate PGP keys on your hard drive and make a copy of the Private Key on an external mass storage device, you will still need to delete the matrix file. An adversary can recover this file with simple tools dedicated to this task. Be cautious and if you have particular security and hiding requirements, operate directly on an external mass storage device. The same applies to AES-GCM and AESRIJNDAEL Engines: create your Master Key on external mass storage devices. This makes it practically impossible to carry out an attack aimed at finding the Master Key.

When performing tests with the PGP Engine, it is necessary to indicate to the program the folder where the keys for the encryption test will be generated, bearing in mind that the text box containing the path will only be enabled when the path indicating the folder where the Keys for file encryption will be generated is present. This simple rule serves to prevent the Settings window from closing if the PGP Engine is chosen and the program has not been given the path of the folder in which the keys used for file encryption will be generated. Any attempt to do so will be promptly reported by Speedcrypt and the user will be prompted to enter the aforementioned path.

The path leading to the folder where PGP keys will be generated for the encryption test using this engine must be entered in the text box labeled Folder Path Test. To do this, we can use two different methods:

Once the path leading to the folder where PGP Keys will be generated for the Encryption Test has been set, all that remains is to enter the path and name of the file that will be subjected to the encryption process using the PGP Engine. In this specific case, Speedcrypt offers its users three different methods to achieve this purpose:

Note: inserting the file to be subjected to an encryption test is the same for all the engines present in the Speedcrypt Project, namely AES-GCM, AES-RIJNDAEL, and PGP, with the difference that the latter two do not require indicating any paths to the program.

Finally, please note that if you intend to make copies of the files encrypted with the PGP engine to be decrypted on systems other than the original PCs, you must first recreate the archives, bring along the keys, and lastly create the destination folder for the keys. If you plan to work in this way on multiple PCs, it is advisable to operate with a USB pen-drive in which to create the destination folder for the keys. In addition to practicality, this is a strategy that guarantees a very high level of security.