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Public Key Crypto
Alice has a private and a public key. So does Bob.
They both post their public keys on a key server.
Alice gets Bob's public key from the server.
Alice uses Bob's public key to encrypt a message to him.
Alice signs the message with her private key.
Bob gets the message. He uses his private key to decrypt the message, and reads it. No one else could have read it.
Bob uses Alice's public key to verify her signature. No one else could have signed it, so the message is from Alice.
Notes: