A client asks if we can mail with S/MIME encryption
S/MIME encrypts at message level using certificates. Works well between parties that have exchanged each other's certificate; awkward otherwise.
Try this first
- 1Ask whether the client really needs S/MIME, or whether a password-protected attachment or secure portal is enough. Often the latter is more practical.
- 2S/MIME requires a personal certificate per user from a trusted issuer, and you must exchange the public part.
- 3Without an exchanged public certificate you can sign encrypted-style but cannot send encrypted to that client.
- 4Pilot with one user and one recipient before rolling it out; key management is the real work, not the sending.
When to bring us in
Issuing certificates, deploying them to devices and coaching people through key handling is a project. Want to set this up properly, book a call.
See also
- Our emails land in spam for some recipientsAlmost always an SPF, DKIM, or DMARC setting that is wrong or missing, or a sender name that mimics a well-known brand.
- Someone reports receiving phishing emails "from us"Read: spoofing. Someone is abusing your sender name, not necessarily your actual mailbox.
- An email bounces (NDR): delivery failedThe NDR text usually states the exact reason. Reading it is step one.
None of the above fits?
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Or skip the DIY entirely
Our Managed IT clients do not look these things up. One point of contact, a fixed monthly price, resolved within working hours.