Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) has been the de facto standard for encrypting e-mail messages and desktop files ever since its introduction to the 'net in 1993. The client itself is based on an encryption technology known as public key cryptography which uses pairs of "keys" to maintain the security of data.
These keys are the digital codes that allow you to encrypt and decrypt the data contained in your messages and files. PGP creates a pair of keys for each user known as a public key and a private key. These two keys work together and represent the core technology behind the two major areas of protection that PGP focuses on — privacy and authenticity.
