Webmail FAQ

In this FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section you can find answers to some questions regarding reading secure emails in webmails - web based mail clients. Generally, a secure email is displayed by webmails as an empty email, containing a single smime.p7m attachment.

Some more questions are answered in the general section

Questions

I need to sign my outgoing electronic mail. Will recipients using webmails be able to decode it?

I have received an smime.p7m file in my mail. What's inside and how can I open it?

How to read secure emails in MSN Hotmail.

How to read secure emails in Yahoo mail.

How to read secure emails in Gmail.

How to read secure emails in OWA E2k (or OWA E5.5)

How to read secure emails in other webmails?

What is an smime.p7m file?

I have followed the instructions to open an smime.p7m file, but I cannot view the content. Why?

Answers

I need to sign my outgoing electronic mail. Will recipients using webmails be able to decode it?

In most webmails recipients will see an empty message with an attachment called smime.p7m. The secure content is containted in the attachment. They will be able to open it using p7mViewer.

I have received an smime.p7m file in my mail. What's inside and how can I open it?

An smime.p7m file contains an email that has been encrypted or signed by the sender. The signature can give you an information on the sender's identity while the encryption ensures that only the intended recipients can read it.

Download and Install p7mViewer 3.0.
Save the smime.p7m file to a disk.
Double-click the saved file/attachment icon to view the message's content.

How to read secure emails in MSN Hotmail.

1. When you receive a secure email, Hotmail will display an empty message with a single attachment named smime.p7m. To open the secure email click smime.p7m attachment(1). NOTE: You need to have p7mViewer installed to view the message.

2. When you click smime.p7m attachment, Hotmail will display a screen where you can download the attachment to your machine. Click Download File link(2).
3. When you click Download File, a window will open asking you to permit a file download. Click Open Button(3).

4. When the file is downloaded to your computer, p7mViewer will open it displaying the content and attachments.

How to read secure emails in Yahoo mail.

1. When you receive a secure email, Yahoo will display an empty message with a single attachment named smime.p7m. To open the secure email click smime.p7m attachment(1). NOTE: You need to have p7mViewer installed to view the message.

2. When you click smime.p7m attachment, Yahoo will display a screen where you can download the attachment to your machine. Click Download Attachment link(2).
3. When you click Download File, a window will open asking you to permit a file download. Click Open Button (3).

4. When the file is downloaded to your computer, p7mViewer will open it displaying the content and attachments.

How to read secure emails in Gmail.

1. When you receive a secure email, Gmail will display an empty message with a single attachment named smime.p7m. To open the secure email click Download(1). NOTE: You need to have p7mViewer installed to view the message.
2. When you click Download, a window will open asking you to permit a file download. Click Open Button.(2)

3. When the file is downloaded to your computer, p7mViewer will open it displaying the content and attachments.

How to read secure emails in OWA E2k (or OWA E5.5)

1. When you receive a secure email, OWA will display an empty message with a single attachment named smime.p7m. To open the secure email click smime.p7m attachment(1).
NOTE: You need to have p7mViewer installed to view the message.

2. When you click Download, a window will open asking you to permit a file download. Click Open Button (2).

3. When the file is downloaded to your computer, p7mViewer will open it displaying the content and attachments.

How to read secure emails in other webmails?

1. Download and Install p7mViewer
2. Save the smime.p7m file to a disk.
3. Double-click the saved file icon to view the message's content in p7mViewer.

What is an smime.p7m file?

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.

I have followed the instructions to open an smime.p7m file, but I cannot view the content. Why?

There are several situations in which you cannot view the file's content. The most probable is that the content is encrypted, but you do not posess a private key needed to decrypt the file. It is also possible that the file has been unrecoverably damaged on the way to your mail client.