Verification of the Monero binary files should be done prior to extracting, installing, or using the Monero software. This is the only way to ensure that you are using the official Monero software. If you receive a fake Monero binary (eg. phishing, MITM, etc.), following this guide will protect you from being tricked into using it.
To protect the integrity of the binaries the Monero team provides a cryptographically signed list of all the [SHA256](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-2) hashes. If your downloaded binary has been tampered with it will be produce a [different hash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_verification) than the one in the file.
This is an advanced guide for Linux, Mac, or Windows operating systems and will make use of the command line. It will walk you through the process of installing the required software, importing the signing key, downloading the necessary files, and finally verifying that your binary is authentic.
On Windows or Mac, go to [binaryFate's GPG key](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/monero-project/monero/master/utils/gpg_keys/binaryfate.asc), which he uses to sign the Monero binaries, and save the page as `binaryfate.asc` to your home directory.
