[ Thanks to proclus
for this link. ]
“Traditional cryptographic schemes use secret keys.
This is called symmetric-key cryptography since both the encoding
and decoding use the same key. One problem with secret-key
cryptography is that everyone must have access to the same key. Not
only are there logistical problems getting the secret key to all
concerned, but there is always the chance that it will be
compromised. A relatively new type of encryption, based on public
keys, largely avoids those pitfalls.PGP and its clones (like GnuPG) use public key cryptography.
Actually, they use both public and private keys to handle the
encryption and decryption of messages. If you want to send an
encrypted message to someone, all you need is his public key.
Messages encrypted with a public key can only be decrypted with the
private key associated with it. Public keys can appear anywhere,
and in fact there are a number of public “keyring” servers that
make them available for the asking. Private keys are kept private,
and they are further protected by the requirement that a password
(or pass phrase) be provided each time it is used to decrypt or
sign a message.Another popular use of encryption technology like PGP is to
“sign” data. This adds a cryptographically secure signature block
to a message or file. The signature represents a hash total of the
data being signed and your public key. Thus others knowing your
public key can verify that the message or data came from you, and
that it has not been altered since you signed it.”