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What is S/MIME? |
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S/MIME (Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension) is a standard for public key encryption and signing of e-mail encapsulated in MIME. S/MIME is based on RSA public-key encryption technology. The services offered by S/MIME provide message integrity and privacy, authentication, non-repudiation. |
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Where can I get more information about S/MIME? |
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A number of documents relating S/MIME are included on S/MIME
Working Group webpages. Most of these documents defines technical
specification and are known as 'Request for Comments' or RFCs. Some articles and
documents describing S/MIME standard are available through our webpage. You can also
try to find other information by the web browser. |
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What is an smime.p7m file? |
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An smime.p7m file contains an encrypted or signed
e-mail message. The message content and attachments are enveloped in an
smime.p7m file together with security information. Mail clients or webmails
usually display secure messages as smime.p7m attachments. You can use Cryptigo S/MIME Plugin for
EUDORA or p7mViewer to open the file and
read the email.
NOTE:
If the file is encrypted you need a private key
matching a public key used to encrypt the mail installed on your machine.
More information on smime.p7m files.
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What is the difference between a digitally signed and an encrypted message? |
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The first, real world difference is that a signed message can always be read, while an encrypted message can only be read using an appropriate private key.
Encryption and digital signature are two different forms of securing data such as electronic mail:
- An encrypted message can only be read by intended recipients.
- A digitally signed message carries verifiable information on the author of the message.
Additionally,
a verified digital signature ensures that the content has not been changed by a third person.
Note that a message can be digitally signed and encrypted at the same time. Sometimes a message
can carry several digital signatures or be encrypted several times. p7mViewer will show you
detailed information on the security structure of the message.
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Are S/MIME messages stored on a server still encrypted or already decrypted? |
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S/MIME messages stored on a server are encrypted. Messages get decrypted at the workstation level.
NOTE:
The above applies to messages that were sent as encrypted. This applies to S/MIME being used as end-to-end encryption and not as encryption gateway for organization-to-organization encryption. |
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Can a secretary access the executive's S/MIME messages? |
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As long as the secretary has access to the mailbox they can read unencrypted messages. Being able to read encrypted messages requires access to the right private key. So whether the secretary will be able to read encrypted messages or not will depend on your company security policy. |
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