What is S/MIME (Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)?

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Ever wondered what an average number of emails sent per day is? It’s 293.6 billion. That many numbers of emails are sent each day, on an average, and the number is going to increase each year. No, I’m not here to discuss om how to send emails but have you ever wondered how come an email sent by you is protected? How are companies like Google, Yahoo, etc. so reliable?

How can they ensure their customers that their emails will be protected? The answer to all this is S/MIME. No, don’t relate this to that street dance.

S/MIME full form – It stands for Secure/Multipurpose Mail Extension, which allows the user to encrypt his/her email.

How does S/MIME work? (s/mime functionality)

S/MIME (s/mime certificate) is based on asymmetric cryptography, which ensures that the email is protected from third-party access. Now, you might say that you have digital certificates like SSL Insqpection or SSL Checker, then what is the need for S/MIME. To be more specific, these digital certificates will ensure a safe and secure passage from the user to the webserver but this does not mean that your emails itself are encrypted.

There is a possibility that the hackers may crack into your unencrypted inbox and get access to your emails. And this is where S/MIME comes into the picture.

Firstly, let us understand the terms which are used here like Cryptography, Symmetrical Cryptography, Asymmetrical Cryptography, Encryption, and decryption.

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