X2vpkiGSE5iKj6AFsI11cv1WTuD48PNckBQpww5LJ8B4j8CCN5qw+gQfI85aMBYBĥ4JWLB64eWpjMYP/aoopkBopW6ZigViH6km7eAqG1Wf4BttHROWjmJqF0BvK9wYE T66AQ7LHsnTbK5z8HrngTIH3HnWEvuInUp+Tlqa47l2k3MX4FNdnf2TKJ7L/nVtN NDrZe3RhuS0i9HtfgnNbQipmzG2LcL6DN+KLhHvrYAhCa9TOg4sY8LVDe1aNw8Vg WcBMAzntlzkGOvi9AQgAZH3Fyv6U8C/OVbU8tgWqMec6qSWdQQsPH7rVm7y4KyN/ $ keybase pgp encrypt nikhita -m "This is a test message!" -BEGIN PGP MESSAGE. If you haven’t added your private key, then you’ll have to use the CLI to encrypt or decrypt messages. In case you decide to do so, remember that encryption/decryption will happen in JS in your browser. If you have added your private key on their server, you can use the website to encrypt and decrypt messages. Note that you can use the paperkey to provision a second computer which would be shown as an arrow originating from the paperkey itself. Keybase creates a nice Merkel tree for you showing how your accounts and devices are connected. cpc3RA8ONsz-83w_F1AngE311_N2CXo2AODV / - Nikhita Raghunath January 14, 2017 Verifying myself: I am nikhita on Keybase.io. It will prompt you to post tweets, gists or what have you to tell everyone: “The person who owns all these accounts is the same - ME! ME! ME!” (obviously not literally). $ keybase paperkey Establishing your identity
It’s a series of words out of which the first two words are the public label and the rest encodes the private key. They are NaCl keys which can be used to provision a new computer. Until then, you can use something called as “paper keys”. The mobile apps are still in development. So if any user has their device compromised, it will let you know. In case any of your devices is compromised, remove it from your account. Each device comes with an encryption key. You can add devices to your keybase account. It might be safe but your private key is meant for your eyes only - better to keep it that way. $ keybase pgp select # if you already have keysīe cautious about adding your private key to the Keybase server. If you prefer to use the CLI: $ keybase login This is will open a GUI where you can login.
After joining, install the keybase app for your desktop.
Note: The following is primarily meant for Linux. Everything in your public folder is signed by you and private folders are end-to-end encrypted which means even Keybase can’t see them! There are two types of folders - public and private. In simple terms, it’s a secure way of file sharing. The awesome file system: Keybase also has a file system of its own called KBFS. So people now know that one of your devices was hacked and they won’t send messages to that device anymore. If one of your devices get hacked, you can remove that device from your Keybase identity. Protection against hacks: Keybase associates each device you own with an encryption key. This is quite handy if you want to send/recieve encrypted messages - it eliminates the need to share the key with the person separately. Storehouse of public keys: Keybase can be considered as a storehouse with easily searchable public keys.
You will have to post something on twitter, github gists, etc to tell everyone that you control these accounts. Once you do this, people can feel comfortable sending you messages even if they haven’t met you IRL. Essentially, you are claiming your accounts and hence your identity. This reinforces my conviction in your public key and makes me feel comfortable in sending you the message.Įstablishes identity: Keybase solves the problem of fake accounts by making you ‘prove’ your online identity - twitter, github, etc. So now I get to verify your identity and know that the person claiming to be you on twitter is actually you (as with github, etc). It will require you to post on each of your accounts - claiming them and linking back to your keybase account. Keybase establishes trust by connecting to your social accounts. However, I want to be sure that it is indeed you to whom I am sending the message - this is where the trust factor creeps in. If I want to send you an encrypted message, I can easily find your public key. Keybase is a trusted storehouse of public keys. Hope this post clears all the fuzzy theories you have about Keybase. It took me some googling to figure out what it really was. The concept of Keybase seems to be easy to understand…once you have understood it! When I first heard of it, I was confused. (At the time of writing this, Keybase does not require an invite even though the landing page of the website says otherwise. Unfortunately, when I first set my sight on it, it required an invitation to sign up. Ever since I heard of Keybase, I wanted to join it.