Endpoint Encryption

PGP desktop email 10.2.1 MP5

windows7 64b entreprise SP1

PGP stopped decrypting emails and files. No particular event identified.

Now PGP prompts repetitively for the passphrase

I have made several trials today on this issue. My conclusion is that there is some strange PGP behavior with respect to my passphrase.
In all the trials, the behavior of PG with respect to my presumed right passphrase is definitely different from the one to a passphrase knowingly wrong, even if the known wrong passphrase is only one digit different from the presumed right. Yet PGP won’t let me decrypt or do any other task with my presumed right passphrase.
That was true already before regarding email decryption, it proved true again today when I tried to change the passphrase. When I did that, if I entered the presumed right passphrase, I can pass the first step of the process, that is I am allowed to propose a new passphrase, and when I do, only then does PGP tell me that the passphrase does not match the passphrase of the key. When in the first screen I enter a knowingly wrong passphrase, PGP tells me the passphrase is incorrect and does not open the screen to change it.
I also tried my key pair on a different machine, with a newly installed PGP (same version though, known to be OK on other machines) and the behavior is the same, ie it is impossible to conclude if the passphrase is correct or not, and I can neither open emails not decrypt files

Hello,

If the passphrase doesn't match then there is no way around this.  To change the passphrase, the old passphrase must be known.

Generate a new key pair and give the Public portion to your users that use e-mail encryption with you.

In PGP Desktop, Go to File, New PGP Key, follow the prompts and create a passphrase for the new key pair.

Thanks

Anthony

Hi rems38,

Is you key still valid or already expired?

When changing the passphase you should be asked twice to typing the new pasphrase, are you inserting twice the same new passphrase?
To be sure, select the tick on the right-hand side to show the characters you are typing - "Show Keystrokes".


Rgs,
dcats

Hi there,

Is your desktop clients managed by the Symantec Encryption Server? If it is managed by the Encryption Server and your administrator has enabled the PGP key reconstruction policy then you can reconstruct your key. In Symantec Encryption Desktop, click the PGP Keys control box and then select your key and then got to the Menu and select the keys and then the option "I forgot my passphrase".

All the best.

Regards,

Bipin