Encrypting Data with Guard

Guard Settings

12.7.2. Managing own keys

On the Guard security settings page, you can:

How to display your own keys or make a key the current one:

  1. Enable the Show Advanced Settings checkbox below Advanced.

    Click on Your keys below Keys. The Your Keys window opens.

    • Your existing keys are displayed. Each key consists of a master key and a subkey.

      • Among other things, the master key is used for signing your emails.

      • The subkey is used for encrypting and decrypting emails and files.

    • Depending on the requirement, Guard automatically uses the master key or the subkey.

  2. If your key list contains more than one key, you can define the current key. To do so, enable the Current checkbox next to the main key. From now on, the current key will be used for encryption.

  3. To display details for a key, click the Details icon next to a key. The Key Details window opens. To view the key's signatures, click on Signatures.

How to add a new key in the Your Keys window:

  1. Click the Add icon next to Keys on Server. The Adding Keys window opens.

  2. You have the following options:

    • To add a private key, click on Upload Private Key. Select a file containing a private key. The Upload Private Keys window opens.

      To upload the new key, enter your Guard security password. Enter a new password for the new key.

    • To add a public key, click on Upload Public Key Only. Select a file containing a public key.

    • To create a new key pair, click on Create New Keys. The Create Guard Security Keys window opens.

      Enter a password for the new key. Confirm the password.

      The new key consists of a master key and a corresponding subkey.

    The new key will be entered on top of your key list. The new key becomes the current key.

How to add an additional user ID in the Your Keys window:

  1. Click the Edit icon next to a key. The Add User ID window opens.

  2. Enter a name for the user ID. Enter the email address that you want to use for this key.

    Enter your password for this key.

How to download a key in the Your Keys window:

  1. Click the Download icon next to a key.

  2. Define whether to download your private key only, your public key only or both keys.

    Caution: Your private key will be downloaded in encrypted form. You should not download your private key to a publicly accessible system, though.

How to delete a key in the Your Keys window:

Warning: If you delete a private key, you can no longer decrypt objects that have been encrypted with this key. If you are unsure, you should not delete the key but revoke it. A revoked key can no longer be used for encryption. But you can still decrypt objects that have been encrypted with this key.

  1. Click the Delete icon next to a key. The Delete Private Key window opens.

  2. You have the following options:

    • To revoke a private key, click on Revoke.

      if you revoke a key, it will no longer be used. But you can still decrypt objects that have been encrypted with this key. For this reason, revoking a key is better than deleting it.

      Enter the password for the private key. If required, select a reason for revoking the key.

      Click on Revoke.

    • In order to delete a private key, click on Delete.

      Warning: If you delete a private key, you can no longer decrypt objects that have been encrypted with this key.

      Enter the password for the private key.

      Click the Delete button.

    When deleting a master key, the corresponding subkey will be deleted too.

Related topics:

Parent topic: Guard Settings