GnuPG is a complete and free implementation of the OpenPGP standard as defined by RFC4880 (also known as PGP). GnuPG allows to encrypt and sign your data and communication, features a versatile key management system as well as access modules for all kinds of public key directories. GnuPG, also known as GPG, is a command line tool with features for easy integration with other applications. A wealth of frontend applications and libraries are available. Version 2 of GnuPG also provides support for S/MIME and Secure Shell (ssh).

GnuPG is Free Software (meaning that it respects your freedom). It can be freely used, modified and distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License .

GnuPG comes in three flavours:

• 2.0.29 is the stable version suggested for most users,
• 2.1.11 is the brand-new modern version with support for ECC and many other new features,
• and 1.4.20 is the classic portable version.

Project Gpg4win provides a Windows version of GnuPG stable. It is nicely integrated into an installer and features several frontends as well as English and German manuals.

Even if you have nothing to hide, using encryption helps protect the privacy of people you communicate with, and makes life difficult for bulk surveillance systems. If you do have something important to hide, you are in good company; GnuPG is one of the tools that Edward Snowden used to uncover his secrets about the NSA.

Please visit the Email Self-Defense site to learn how and why you should use GnuPG for your electronic communication. If you need printed leaflets check out FSFE’s GnuPG leaflet.

The latest blog entries:

• GnuPG News for November and December 2015
• GnuPG News for September and October 2015
• GnuPG News for Summer 2015

The latest release news:
(all news)

Libgcrypt version 1.6.5 and an updated Windows installer for GnuPG 2.1.11 has been released to mitigate a new side-channel attack. {more}

A new version of the modern branch of GnuPG has been released. Read the full announcement mail for details.

Due to this ProPublica article we received more than 120,000 € of individual donations on a single day. There was even more: The Core Infrastructure Initiative granted 60,000 $ for 2015. Our payment service Stripe and Facebook will each give 50,000 $ to the project. And finally the Wau Holland Stiftung is collecting tax deductible funds for GnuPG (19000 € plus 57 BTC).

As the main author of GnuPG, I like to thank everyone for supporting the project, be it small or large individual donations, helping users, providing corporate sponsorship, working on the software, and for all the encouraging words.

GnuPG does not stand alone: there are many other projects, often unknown to most people, which are essential to keep the free Internet running. Many of them are run by volunteers who spend a lot of unpaid time on them. They need our support as well.

— Werner, 2015-02-06

(see also this blog entry)