Secure emails with S/MIME

Overview

This is a step-by-step guide on how to setup and use digital signing and encryption to secure emails. It describes getting and using X.509v3 certificates with S/MIME secured emails.

Instructions

1. Understand the basics
   • How secure email works
2. Get a certificate for your email address
   • Choosing a certificate provider
   • Getting a personal email certificate from Comodo
3. Export your private key and certificate
   • Exporting private key and certificates from Firefox
4. Setup your email program and use them
   • Use Apple Mail to send and receive secure emails
   • Use Thunderbird to send and receive secure emails
5. Understand the limitations
   • What secure email cannot do