Using Guard

Guard Settings

3.5.3. Administering keys

In order to send or receive encrypted messages, the functions for administering keys are typically not required. Those functions can be used for the following requirements though:

  • You want to use your Guard PGP keys in other e-mail clients, e.g.: in local e-mail clients.

  • You have PGP keys from other PGP applications. You want to use those keys in Guard.

  • You have an external partner's public key. In order to read encrypted messages from this external partner without having to access a key server, you want to import the partner's public key into Guard.

  • You want to provide your public key to a recipient in order to give the latter read access to your encrypted messages without the need to access a key server.

How to open the page for administering your keys:

  1. Click the System menu icon on the right side of the menu bar. Click the Settings menu item.

  2. Select the entry GuardSecurity in the side bar. Click on Advanced Settings.

    Enable Enable Advanced PGP Features.

The page contains the following elements.

  • Options for adjusting the Guard default settings

  • Your Keys section. Contains functions for administering your private and public PGP keys.

    Your existing keys will be displayed below Your Key List. The key list contains two keys:

    • A master key. Among other things, this key is used for signing your E-Mail messages.

    • A subkey. This key is used for encrypting and decrypting E-Mail messages and files.

    The differentiation between master key and subkey is one of the features of the PGP encryption technology. Each master key and each subkey contains a public and a private key. Depending on the requirements, Guard automatically uses the respective key.

  • Public Keys section. Displays the pubic keys shared by you or other users. If a user's public key is shown in this list, you can assume that this user can decrypt the encrypted e-mail messages that you send to this user.

The following functions are available:

How to download your public key:

  1. In the settings, open the page for administering the keys.

  2. Click on Download PGP Public Key below Your Keys.

How to send your public key by E-Mail:

  1. In the settings, open the page for administering the keys.

  2. Click on E-mail your PGP Public Key below Your Keys.

How to add a new key to your keys:

  1. In the settings, open the page for administering the keys.

  2. Click the Add icon next to Your Key List below Your Keys. The Adding Keys window opens.

  3. You have the following options:

    • To add a private key, click on Upload Private Key. Select a file containing a private key. The Upload Private Keys window opens.

      To upload the new key, enter your Guard security password. Enter a new password for the new key.

    • To add a public key, click on Upload Public Key Only. Select a file containing a public key.

    • To create a new key pair, click on Create New Keys. The Create Guard Security Keys window opens.

      Enter a password for the new key. Confirm the password.

      The new key consists of a master key and a corresponding subkey.

    The new key will be entered on top of your key list. The new key becomes the current key.

How to make a key the current one:

You can use this function if your key list contains more than one master key and subkey. From now on, the current key will be used for encryption.

  1. In the settings, open the page for administering the keys.

  2. Below Your Key List, click the checkbox next to a key below Current. When turning a master key into the current key, the corresponding subkey will be marked as current too, and vice versa.

How to show a key's details:

You can get details for the keys. A key's details are especially useful for users with PGP knowledge.

  1. In the settings, open the page for administering the keys.

  2. Click the Details iconon the right side of the categories bar. The Key Details window opens. To view the key's signatures, click on Signatures.

How to delete a key:

  1. In the settings, open the page for administering the keys.

  2. Click the Delete icon on the right side of the categories bar. The Delete Private Key window opens.

  3. The following options are available:

    • To revoke a private key, click on Revoke.

      Enter the password for the private key. If required, select a reason for revoking the key.

      Click on Revoke.

    • In order to delete a private key, click on Delete.

      Enter the password for the private key.

      Click the Delete button.

    When deleting a master key, the corresponding subkey will be deleted too.

How to download your private key:

Caution: Downloading a private key to your local machine can be a security risk. Make sure that no other person can get access to your private key.

  1. In the settings, open the page for administering the keys.

  2. Click the Download iconon the right side of the categories bar.

How to add an additional E-Mail account to a key:

When adding additional user IDs to a key, you can use the key for multiple E-Mail accounts.

  1. In the settings, open the page for administering the keys.

  2. Click the Edit icon on the right side of the categories bar. The Add User ID window opens.

  3. Enter a name for the user ID. Enter the E-Mail address that you want to use for this key.

    Enter your password for this key.

    Click on OK.

How to upload an external partner's public key:

  1. In the settings, open the page for administering the keys.

  2. Click the Add icon on the right side of the categories bar. Select a file containing a public key.