| Questions and Answers | |
| What is a public keyserver ? | |
| A public keyserver is a repository (database) of public keys. A public keyserver is the white pages of all the public keys of the OpenPGP users. |
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| Why should I put my key on the keyserver ? | |
When someone wants to send you a secure message (encrypted), He/She needs your public key. When you digitally sign a message the recipient of the message needs your public key in order to verify the signature. | |
| My public key has expired, should I remove it from the keyserver ? | |
| You should not remove your expired key. All digital signatures you made prior the expiration date remain valid and can only be verified with that expired key. | |
| I do not trust my key anymore, I think it has been compromised. How can I remove it from the keyserver ? | |
| You should not remove that key. Instead, you should revoke it. After its revocation, you should post it to the keyserver. Everyone will know that your key is no more valid. It is also recommended to generate a new key pair and to post your new public key to the server. Your existing contacts will be able to continue to send you encrypted messages by using your new key pair. |
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| I have lost the passphrase of my key. | |
| See: You have lost your private key | |
| I have lost my private key. | |
| What you should do is to get your key revoked by a trusted third party. The OpenPGP standard allows a user to give key revocation rights to a third party (ie: a corporate key) If you have used this feature, you can safely revoke your key and post the revoked key to the keyserver. |
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| I have lost my private key and noone can revoke it for me. How can I remove it from the keyserver ? | |
The quick answer is: you cannot. The relevance and usability of a key is based solely on its expired and/or revoked status. This keyserver being an Enterprise keyserver, the keymaster has the ability to remove keys physically. | |
| How do I generate my own key pair ? | |
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You can use an OpenPGP client such as FileCrypt Desktop to generate your key pair. Please visit www.veridis.com for more information on FileCrypt Desktop. |
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| How do I revoke my key ? | |
The quick answer is: you cannot. The relevance and usability of a key is based solely on its expired and/or revoked status.
You need an OpenPGP client application to revoke your key.
We recommend the use of FileCrypt Desktop to reovke your key. | |