Is there a way to identify a PGP encrypted file based on the file content (like the way a ZIP file can be identified by looking for letters "PK" at the beginning of the file)? We receive multiple files from a client and don't have an idea which ones are PGP encrypted. I need to write code to identify the PGP files and decrypt them automatically. Thanks!!

The best I could suggest is to look for a PGP packet header in the file - there isn't a magic number associated with PGP files. You'd need to do some analysis on the files you have and look for packet types, internally consistent length headers and the like.

Regards,

David

Thanks David!!

One more question. I wrote a progam to encrypt a file using a public key. I don't have the private key with me to decrypt the file. How do I know if the encryption was successful?

The file was encrypted using a PGP tool previously and I have a copy of the previously encrypted file. Is there a way to compare (byte comparison or something) this previously encrpted file with the one that I encrypted via programming to make they are the same?

Thanks!!

The session key used to encrypt the file is random, so it would be highly unusual for two encryptions of the same file to produce the same encrypted data.

The best way to confirm your program is working is to generate your own public/private key pair, do an encryption, and use another tool like GPG to decrypt the file.

Regards,

David

Thanks David!!