How to Use Public Key Encryption

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In this video you will find detailed instructions on how to use Public Key Encryption in BestCrypt Container Encryption.  

How Does Public Key Encryption Work?

With password based encryption, a single password is used for both encryption and decryption. However Public Key Encryption uses two separate keys: one public key for encryption, and a private key for decryption.
You do not share any passwords when you use Public Key Encryption.

So, this method is much more secure when several users need to access an encrypted container stored on a shared network drive. In this scenario:

  • Each user has a public/private key pair, generated by BestCrypt Key Manager or any similar utility;
  • The public key can be shared openly such as with your network administrator;
  • The network administrator encrypts the container with the public key from each user;
  • Every user can access the container using their own private key.

Download BestCrypt Container Encryption 
Learn more about BestCrypt Container Encryption

Public Key Encryption - How to Video

In this video tutorial, we’ll show you how to use Public Key Encryption.

With password based encryption a single password is used for both encryption and decryption. However public key encryption uses two separate keys, one public key for encryption and a private key for decryption.

You do not share any passwords when you use public key encryption. So this method is much more secure when several users need to access an encrypted container stored on a shared network drive. 

In this scenario: 
Each user has a public/private key pair, generated by BestCrypt Key Manager or any other utility. The public key can be shared openly such as with your network administrator.
The networks administrator encrypts the container with the public key from each user, then every user can access the container using their own private key.

Open the BestCrypt Control Panel. Click 'Container' Menu – and select 'New'.

Select the container 'File path'. Then select the 'Size' and provide a brief 'Description'. Now go ahead and click 'Create'.

Instead of entering the 'password' click 'Show Advanced Settings'. BestCrypt provides you with three different Encryption Schemes. Here we will select Public Key Encryption. You can search online for public keys by clicking 'Net Search'. To choose an existing public key or to generate a new one click 'choose key'.

We have already generated two pairs of public-private keys with BestCrypt Public Key Manager. By default the key pair is stored in the BCDB folder inside your documents. BestCrypt automatically looks for private keys in this location. In the real-life scenario you would share your public key by sending it to the administrator, who then adds it to the shared container, but for this demonstration we will just place the keys in separate locations on the same computer.

Choose a public key for the new container and click 'OK'. Move your mouse around this window or type anywhere on the keyboard to generate random data for the encryption key.

Format your container by clicking 'Start'.  Then 'Dismount' it.

BestCrypt allows you to encrypt a container with multiple Public Keys. Let’s now try to add the second key.

Right click the container and select 'Properties'.

Select 'User Passwords'.

Select 'Add password' and click 'Execute'.

Enter the password you used to create the key pair and select the corresponding private key. Repeat these steps, re-enter the password you used to create the key pair and again select the corresponding private key.

Click 'Show Advanced Settings', select 'Public Key Encryption'
Choose the second public key for the container and click 'OK'.

Let's now try to mount the container by using either of the two private keys. Double click on the container, enter the password you chose while generating the public key and click 'OK'.

Select your private key and click 'Get It'

CONGRATULATIONS! You have successfully created a container using advanced settings. Thank you for watching! We hope you will be satisfied with our software.