Eli5 what is pgp key and how does it work
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there are two types of cryptography:
-symmetric
-asymmetric
the simmetric one is the one you are familiar with: you set the password on a file, share the password with someone in a safe way, share the encrypted file on an insecure channel, the other guy enters the same password, file unlocked.
asimmetric one: you can think it like a pair of things: a “thing” to lock and a “thing” to unlock, for example a safe and it’s combination, a lock and it’s key.
the idea is that you send your safe opened to your friend, he fill it with stuff and close it, noone can open it, not even him, the safe is a “lock only thing” while your combination is “unlock only thing”.
pgp is a software that allows you to use both but a pgp key is an asimmetric key (safe example) where you publish the public key part (“opened safe”) on the internet and whoever want to send you a private message can use a copy of that key (“copy of the opened safe”) to encrypt stuff to you. you use the private part to open the message.
easiest example of public key crypto system: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle’s_Puzzles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle’s_Puzzles)
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