-: S/MIME.
S/MIME is the Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions,
also known as S/MIME.
It's a standard that provides cryptographic security
for electronic messaging, things like email.
Now when we talk about S/MIME,
it is built into most email clients you're going to use.
So if you're using Apple Mail or Microsoft Outlook
or even Gmail, it has the capability to support S/MIME.
S/MIME is going to use separate session keys
for each email message that's being sent or received.
We can use digital IDs within Outlook
or digital signatures within many different programs
to give our emails authentication, integrity,
and non-repudiation through S/MIME.
Now S/MIME is a way
that we can encrypt our emails and their content.
The problem with that is
it also encrypts all of their contents, including malware.
So, if I wanted to send you an email
and I was going to encrypt the content,
and I put a piece of malware in there
and encrypted it and sent it to you, guess what?
Your boundaries may not detect it.
Your filter may not detect it
because it's going through encrypted,
and if they don't have access
to your private key to decrypt it,
they're not going to be able to see it
and protect you from it.
So how do you overcome this?
Well, a lot of email gateways
will actually load up the user's private key
so they can decrypt the emails,
look at the contents, make sure they're safe,
and then pass them on to the user.
Again, though, if you're giving up your private key,
that can reduce the security of the system.
So it's something you have to weigh
the pros versus the cons
as you're going through and setting up your S/MIME.
(electronic tones)