Email encryption is a vital component of protecting your organization’s data. It can save your organization from costly litigation and other issues.
Despite its widespread use, however, many people aren’t familiar with email encryption. This article aims to help you understand the basics of email encryption and how to view encrypted messages.
Recipient’s Inbox
When an Encrypted Email is delivered to a recipient, it appears in the recipients inbox just like any other email message. Users will see an alert about the item’s restricted permissions in the Reading pane of their inbox.
The recipient will need to authenticate and log in using his or her ShareFile credentials before being able to view the encrypted message. This is how we ensure that sensitive data stays secure.
Once the recipient is authenticated, the encrypted message will appear in the default browser of that individual. He or she will then be able to view the content of the encrypted message, download attachments, and respond.
If the recipient attempts to open the encrypted email and is not authenticated, they will receive a recall notification and will not be able to access the original message. If they do not open the recall notification, then the original message will be deleted from their inbox and replaced with a new one.
Recipient’s Sent Messages
When you send an encrypted email, the recipient will receive a notification in their sent messages. This will include a link to view the message securely in their default browser.
If the recipient does not have a Microsoft 365 account, they’ll be directed to sign in or request a one-time passcode. After authenticating, they can view the email and reply to it.
ShareFile encrypts the message body, any attachments and attachment files in transit. Recipients cannot remove this encryption, so forwards and replies remain secure.
To send a signed or encrypted message, your keychain must contain a personal certificate for each recipient. A signed icon (with a checkmark) is displayed if your keychain contains a certificate for every recipient; an encrypted icon (with a closed lock) indicates that you do not have a certificate for each recipient.
The recipient can then compare the public key with the privatemessage key they were already sent to verify that they are who they say they are and open the encrypted email. Once they’ve verified their identity, they can then respond to the email or download the attached file.
Recipient’s Web Portal
To view an encrypted email, the recipient must log in to the Message Pickup Center via a web browser. The Message Pickup Center will provide the recipient with instructions on how to read the email.
To do this, the recipient will need to enter their email address and password (created during activation). Then, they can log in to the Message Pickup Center and access the email.
If the recipient is using an external email client such as Gmail, Yahoo or Microsoft, they will receive a link to log in to read the message. Once they have entered their email address and password, they will see a window with the content of the encrypted message displayed.
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Recipient’s Email Client
When a recipient receives an encrypted email, they will see a secure banner in their default email client. Once they click on the banner, they will be able to view and respond to the message.
The banner will contain a link that they can click to view the encrypted email, download the attachments and/or reply to the sender. Depending on the settings, they may be required to sign in using their ShareFile credentials or request a one-time passcode that authenticates them as the recipient and allows them to view the encrypted email.
Conclusion
Encrypted emails are denoted by a Lock icon to the right of the Sent Messages column in the Inbox. They can be viewed in Outlook if you have the latest version of our Microsoft 365 Message Encryption plugin installed, or in alternative applications such as Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo.
