Skip to main content
Offline·Progress is saved on this device and syncs the next time you open the app online.
Email & Messaging

PGP

Pretty Good Privacy

An encryption program for securing email and files.

Pretty Good Privacy provides confidentiality and authentication for email and files by combining symmetric encryption for the data with public key cryptography for key exchange and digital signatures. It relies on a decentralized web of trust rather than a central certificate authority, so users vouch for one another's keys directly. This contrasts with S/MIME, which uses CA-issued certificates and a hierarchical PKI. The open standard descendant is OpenPGP, and GPG is a widely used free implementation.

Related terms

Looking PGP up is step one. Getting tested on it is step two.

A free account opens all 4 Domain 1 objectives, 271 exam-style questions with a lesson and a lab on each, a placement check that skips what you already know, and a dated plan. No card.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by CompTIA.