First time use
Generating your cryptographic key pair
When starting Simp for the first time, Simp will generate your own cryptographic key pair.
This keys pair consists in a public key that will be sent to your parties
so that they can crypt messages for you, and a private key that will
be used to decrypt those messages. It is as if you had a special key for locking your
house door, and another different one to open it. Keys are also used to
authenticate yourself to other users: since you're the only one supposed to have
your private key, it can be used as a proof of your identity when others request
for it. This can be really useful for your friends if they fear somebody could
try to impersonate you!
The keys generation has to be done once only with the help of the Key
generation wizard.
Once the keys generation wizard window appears, read the introduction text and click next to begin creation of the key pair.
This process is broken into five steps:
- Step 1: introduction screen, the one you should see when the wizard starts
- Step 2: selecting a cipher (default values should be fine for most users)
- Step 3: Assigning a password, where you can define a password to restrict access to your private key
- Step 4: Generating random numbers, where random numbers are generated using your mouse moves
- Step 5: Generating your key pair; the actual generation of your key pair occurs during this fully automated step
- Step 6: Final step, where you can accept or not the previously created key pair.
Finally, when you accept the key and exit the wizard, the main Simp window shows up. Note that if you cancelled the keys
generation, Simp will continue loading anyway but will have the public-key encryption features disabled. Messages can still be encrypted but you will lack
the opportunity to authenticate yourself to your contacts.
Additional configuration
Simp is shipped by default settings that should fit most users. Simp also imports Internet connection settings from MSN Messenger
settings. However, if you want to customize Simp, you can have a look at configuration options in the File/Configure... menu.
New users behind a proxy or firewall requiring special configuration and who did not previously install and run MSN Messenger
should also have a look at the Connection tab in the configuration window.
Note: for additional configuration help, please refer to the Configuration section of this help system.
Next: Regular use
