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Email Encryption
Email Protection
Email Security
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SSL EMAIL ENCRYPTION
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SSL is short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting private documents via the Internet. SSL addresses email privacy by providing secure and accurate data communications among email servers and various email client programs such as Eudora, Netscape, and Outlook (Express).
Why do I need SSL encryption?
SSL transport protects message headers (From, To, and Subject fields) and bodies from interception on the way to and from the mail server. This part of the route is most critical for email privacy since this is when local authorities like your company, your ISP, or local government agencies can monitor or even modify your mail without your knowledge. Even if you use PGP or a similar program to encrypt your messages, these programs usually leave email headers in clear, and quite often mail headers can provide a lot of information about who you're communicating with and the subject of your messages. In addition, SSL transport provides security for your account access information (your username and password) as well. If this information is sent in clear over the Internet, it can easily fall prey to network "sniffing" attacks, which would grant an intruder complete access to your email account.
How does SSL work?
Using SSL, both servers and clients can authenticate the identity of each other. SSL secures email communications by using private and public key technology for both authenticating the connection and encrypting the data. After establishing an authenticated connection, the messages and its attachments are encoded, sent, received and decoded using the public and private encryption keys.
Some details are left out for the sake of simplicity. For a client-server situation, SSL works in this way:
- A client requests a secure connection to a server.
- The server sends its authentication certificate and its public key to the client.
- The client verifies the certificate. If the certificate is valid, the client sends the server a randomly generated encryption key encoded with the server's public key.
- The server decodes the encryption key using its private key.
- The client and server can now exchange the encoded data.
How do I use SSL?
If you are certain you want to use SSL, first find out if your mail server supports SSL, then configure your email software.
Netscape 7.x
Launch the Netscape 7 email client and make sure it is the active window on your desktop. Then do the following:
- From the "Edit" menu, select "Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings" to display the settings dialog box.
- Click on the "Server Settings".
- Under the "Server Settings", check the "Use secure connection (SSL)" check box.
- Click on the "Outgoing Server" (SMTP).
- Under the "Use secure connection (SSL)", click the "Always" radio button.
- Click "OK" to close the "Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings" dialog box.
Outlook 2002
Launch Outlook 2002 and make sure it is the active window on your desktop. Then do the following:
- From the "Tools" menu, select "Email Accounts" to display the "Email Accounts" wizard.
- Click the "View" or change existing email accounts option and click "Next".
- In the section labeled "Outlook processes email for these accounts in the following order" click on the desired and then click "Change".
- Click on the "More Settings".
- In the "Internet Email Settings" dialog box click the "Advanced" tab and make the following selections.
Under the "Incoming server" check the check box next to "This server requires a secure connection (SSL)".
Under the "Outgoing server" check the check box next to "This server requires a secure connection (SSL)".
- Click "OK" to close the "Internet Email Settings" dialog box.
- Then click "Next" and, finally, "Finish" to close the "Email Accounts" wizard.
Outlook Express 6
Launch Outlook or Outlook Express and make sure it is the active window on your desktop. Then do the following:
- From the Tools menu, select "Accounts" to display the "Internet Accounts" dialog box.
- Click the "Mail" tab.
- Select either the IMAP or POP server and then click on the "Properties" button.
- In the "xxx.yourserver.com Properties" dialog box click on the "Advanced" tab.
- For both outgoing and incoming mail, click the check box labeled "This server requires a secure connections (SSL)".
- Click "OK" to close the "xxx.yourserver.com Properties" dialog box.
- Click "OK" to close the "Internet Accounts" dialog box.
Eudora 5.1 or 5.2
Launch Eudora and make sure it is the active window on your desktop. Then do the following:
- From the "Tools" menu, select "Options" to display the "Options" dialog box.
- Click the "Checking Mail" icon located in the Category area to the left.
- In the settings panel of the "Options" dialog box, click on the drop list box labeled "Secure Sockets when Receiving" and select the "Required Alternate Port" option.
- Click "OK" to close the "Options" dialog box.
OS X Mail
Launch OS X mail and make sure that it is the active window on your desktop. Then do the following:
- From the "Mail" menu choose "Preferences".
- Choose the "Accounts" menu and Edit the desired account.
- Under the "Account Information, Outgoing Mail Server", choose "Options".
- Click the option "Use Secure Sockets Layer".
- Click "OK", to return to the previous menu.
- Click the "Advanced" tab, then click the "Use SSL" option.
- Click "OK" to return to the Accounts window and close it.
SSL Email
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