When attempting to send a file to another user securely with GPG, which of the following actions must be done?

Question

Options

• AEncrypt the file using your public key.
• BEncrypt the file using their public key.
• CEncrypt the file using your private key.
• DEncrypt the file using their private key.
• ESign the file with your public key.

• A
  4% (2)
• B
  79% (44)
• C
  2% (1)
• D
  5% (3)
• E
  11% (6)

Explanation

Encrypting with the recipient's public key ensures only they can decrypt it - their paired private key is the only thing that can unlock it, and only they possess it.

Why the distractors fail:

• A (your public key): Encrypting with your own public key means only you could decrypt it - useless for sending to someone else.
• C (your private key): This is what you'd use to sign a message (proving authorship), not encrypt it for confidentiality. Anyone with your public key could decrypt it, offering no secrecy.
• D (their private key): You never have access to another person's private key - that would defeat the entire point of asymmetric cryptography.
• E (your public key for signing): Signatures use your private key, not your public key; this reverses the signing process.

Memory tip: Think "lock with their key, unlock with theirs" - you use the recipient's public key to lock the file shut, and only their private key can open it. Public = lock, Private = unlock.

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