Encrypting email in Outlook may sound like a daunting and difficult task, but it is actually quite simple.

Obtain a Digital ID for Outlook (used for both encryption and signing)

To be able to encrypt important Outlook emails you must first obtain a Digital ID, also known as Email Certificate. You can get the digital ID from one of the sources recommended by Microsoft. (Most Digital IDs issued by Certificate Authorities are paid services with an annual renewal fee. Comodo is one of the few that provides free Email Certificates.)

Setup your Email Certificate in Outlook

1. Switch to the FILE tab and go to OPTIONS > TRUST CENTER.
2. Click the TRUST CENTER SETTINGS button.
3. In the Trust Center dialog window select E-MAIL SECURITY.
4. On the E-mail Security tab click SETTINGS under “Encrypted e-mail”.
5. In the Change Security Settings dialog window, click NEW under “Security Setting Preferences”.
6. Type a name for your new digital certificate in the SECURITY SETTINGS NAME box.
7. Make sure S/MIME is selected in the “Cryptography Format” list.
8. Click CHOOSE next to “Encryption Certificate” to add your digital certificate to encrypt emails.
9. Select the “Send these certificates with signed messages” check box if you are going to send Outlook encrypted email messages outside of your company. Then click the [OK] button to commit your changes.

Add a recipient’s digital ID (Public Key)

To be able to exchange encrypted messages with certain contacts you first need to share your Public Keys. You do this by exchanging digitally signed emails with the person whom you want to send encrypted emails.

Once you get a digitally signed email from your contact you have to add the contact’s digital ID certificate to their contacts in your Address Book. To do this, follow the steps below:

1. In Outlook, open a message that is digitally signed. You can recognize a digitally signed message by a Signature icon.
2. Right-click the sender’s name in the From fields, and then click Add to Outlook Contacts.

When the person is added to your Outlook contacts, their digital certificate will be stored with the contact’s entry.

Once you have shared the Digital IDs with contact you can send encrypted messages to one another.

How to encrypt a single email message in Outlook

In an email message you are composing, switch to the OPTIONS tab > PERMISSIONS group and click the [ENCRYPT] button. Then send the encrypted email as you usually do in Outlook, by clicking the [SEND] button.

If you don’t see the [ENCRYPT] button, then do the following:

1. Go to OPTIONS tab > MORE OPTIONS group and click the “Message Options Dialog Box Launcher” in the lower corner.
2. In the Properties dialog window, Click the [SECURITY SETTINGS] button.
3. In the Security Properties dialog window, check the “Encrypt message contents and attachments” check box and click OK.

For more information about Email Encryption please see https://news.scarabmedia.com/help-center/using-email-encryption/.

Posted in: Email