Setting up S/MIME for email
S/MIME is a protocol for sending digitally signed and encrypted emails to ensure the confidentiality, authenticity and integrity.
Set up S/MIME for outbound mails (signing and encryption)
You can use S/MIME for outbound mails for the following purposes:
- Digital signature
- Encryption
- Digital signature and encryption
To set up S/MIME, the admin must have the following:
- email_account_admin and sn_kmf.cryptographic_manager roles
- Key pair (private key and public key)
- CA certificate
- Email certificate
Upload the instance email account key pair and email certificates, and enable outbound S/MIME properties. For more information, see Enable S/MIME.
If there are multiple recipients and some of the recipients do not have valid certificates, the email will be sent only to recipients with a valid certificate.
Set up S/MIME for inbound mails (sign verification and decryption)
S/MIME for inbound mails can be used for the following:
- Signature verification
- Decryption
- Signature verification and decryption
For information about enabling inbound S/MIME properties, see Enable S/MIME.
If the system fails to decrypt a message, no inbound actions will run on the email and it is moved to the received-ignored status.
To set up the system to ignore inbound signed emails if the signature cannot be verified or is invalid, admins can create the email.inbound.smime.ignore_unverified_emails and set it to true.
For more information about key management and cryprographic module, see Key Management Framework Reference.
- Import an S/MIME key pair
Import an S/MIME key pair consisting of the private key and certificate to sign outbound emails or decrypt emails. - Upload a CA certificate
Upload a digital CA (Certificate Authority) certificate to validate email certificates for secure communication. - Upload an email certificate
Upload an email certificate to validate a signature for inbound email or encrypt an outbound email or both for secure communication. - Enable S/MIME
Configure S/MIME settings for inbound and outbound email.
Parent Topic:Email encryption - S/MIME protocol
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