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Posts Tagged ‘tls’

Did You Know? S/MIME is like SSL for Email Encryption

Tuesday, March 24th, 2015

S/MIME is a popular technology for end-to-end email encryption and is analogous to PGP in the way that it works.  It is commonly available in most modern email programs and in many server-side email and WebMail encryption services like LuxSci SecureLine.

Folks are used to thinking about Internet security and encryption in terms of web site security. E.g. the “https://” that secures our everyday life working in our web browsers is the signal that SSL/TLS is being used to encrypt traffic between ourselves and the web server.  People are even becoming used to the fact that TLS (with SMTP) is also commonly used to secure the transport of email messages from server-to-server.

These are all good things!

S/MIME (like PGP) is different — it encrypts the email message before it is sent and the message stays encrypted until the recipient opens it.  It “doesn’t matter” how this message is transported to the recipient … its secure the whole way.[1]  But did you know that S/MIME is really just an application of the same SSL/TLS technology that secures your traffic to securing your messages?

[1] S/MIME (and PGP) do not secure your message headers (e.g. the subject, recipients, etc.), it only secures the message body and attachments.  So, the added security of SMTP over TLS does serve to protect those things that S/MIME does not protect.

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Tags: openssl, s/mime, ssl, tls
Posted in LuxSci Library: The Technical Side of Email
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Stopping Forged Email 4: Your Last Resorts

Wednesday, March 4th, 2015

In previous posts we have examined how hackers and spammers can send forged email and how it can be extremely difficult to differentiate these messages from legitimate messages.  We have looked at the various common techniques for anti-fraud such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC and seen that, while these technologies can help a lot, they all have limitations; they all require strict and proper setup by the owner of the purported sender’s domain, and they must be well supported by your own spam filtering system.

Yet even with these technologies, it’s not hard in many cases for a determined attacker to send you a forged, fraudulent email message that still looks and feels legitimate.

What else can you do to validate email messages and protect yourself from phishing or social engineering attacks?

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Tags: digital signatures, pgp, s/mime, security, smtp tls, tls
Posted in LuxSci Library: The Technical Side of Email
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How to Tell Who Supports SMTP TLS for Email Transmission

Tuesday, January 27th, 2015

SMTP TLS (Transport Layer Security) is the mechanism by which two email servers, when communicating, can automatically negotiate an encrypted channel between them so that the emails transmitted are secured from eavesdroppers.

It is becoming ever more important to use a company that supports TLS for email transmission as more and more banks, health care, and other organizations who have any kind of security policy are requiring their vendors and clients to use this type of encryption for emailed communications with them. Additionally, if your email provider supports TLS for email transmission, and you are communicating with people whose providers do also, then you can be reasonably sure that all of the email traffic between you and them will be encrypted.

How do you find out if someone to whom you are sending email uses a provider who’s servers support TLS-encrypted communications? We will take you through the whole process step-by-step, but first let us note some 6 important truths about TLS connection encryption.

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Tags: dig, dns, ehlo, mx records, nslookup, smtp, smtp connection, starttls, tls, tls support
Posted in LuxSci Library: Security and Privacy, Popular Posts
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Do you need a VPN for Secure Email in a Wireless Hotspot?

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

LuxSci has been approached by many people asking for VPN (Virtual Private Network) services.  When we ask them why, they indicate that they use wireless hotspots (like at Starbucks and other public places) that are insecure and untrusted and they want to be sure that their email is secure and encrypted there.*

Note that even if the hotspot is password protected and “secure”, that does not mean that it is “trusted”.  The hot stop administrators or other users of that hotspot could still try to intercept your Internet traffic.  So, just because it is a “secure” hotspot with the little lock next to it and a password that you must enter, do not assume you are safe at all.

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Tags: eavesdropping, email security, hotspot, imap, pop, secure email, smtp, ssl, tls, vpn, webmail, wireless
Posted in LuxSci Library: Security and Privacy
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Who does not support SMTP TLS for Secure Inbound Email Delivery?

Thursday, November 7th, 2013

We are frequently asked who supports TLS  to secure inbound email delivery. This is especially important for customers who need to be HIPAA-compliant, as email transport encryption over TLS is sufficient for HIPAA-compliant communications to end-users, so long as the TLS is configured to be sufficiently strong.

While it is possible to tell who supports TLS, it is somewhat technical to do it yourself. So, we have assembled a table with many of the most popular free and public email domains in use across the internet. We indicate which currently (as of July 8, 2022) supports SMTP TLS for inbound email.

The results are surprising. A majority of domains these days do support TLS. With Microsoft’s recent TLS implementation on its email domains (hotmail.com/live.com/outlook.com), this rounds out consistent TLS support (for inbound delivery–outbound may or may not be supported) for all of the most popular free email providers (e.g., aol.com, gmail.com yahoo.com, hotmail.com).

Note: lists below have been updated as of 7/8/22.

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Tags: Forced TLS, hipaa, opportunistic, smtp, smtp tls, tls, tls checker
Posted in LuxSci Library: The Technical Side of Email
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