Comments on: How to Use GPG to Encrypt and Decrypt Files in Linux

By: Ravi Saive

Ravi Saive — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 06:08:25 +0000

In reply to Udu.

@Udu,

Thanks for the suggestion, here is the command to check a key’s fingerprint:

gpg --fingerprint someone@example.com

Or for a key file before importing:

gpg --show-keys --fingerprint publickey.asc

Then the fingerprint should be confirmed through a secure channel (in person, phone, or another trusted method) before trusting or importing the key.

By: Udu

Udu — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 15:04:45 +0000

It would be helpful to also explain how to verify key fingerprints before importing someone’s public key, and to confirm the fingerprint through a secure channel to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.

By: mikey

mikey — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 06:47:10 +0000

Thanks for the writing up. It's probably better to name the two files (aaronsec.key and tadminsec.key) aaronpub.key and tadminpub.key, respectively, since they are in fact public keys. And there is no need for "secure other means" to exchange public keys. In fact public keys should be as widely published as possible.