Steganos Secure E-Mail Step by Step Instructions Introduction Although more and more PC users learn that an e-mail can be read by a third party as easily as a postcard, e-mail encryption is still quite rare. A primary reason for this is simply time as a lot of solutions are complicated to install and use. Furthermore, sending encrypted e-mails often requires the receiving partner to install the encryption/decryption software first, often at their own monetary cost. This makes a user think twice before sending out encrypted e-mails. With Steganos Secure E-Mail these obstacles are eliminated: installation and operation are very simple, and with a simple click of a mouse, you can invite users to a free guest access for two weeks, without the invitee having to install Steganos Secure E-Mail on their computer! You only need two steps to start communicating encrypted: the installation of Steganos Secure E-Mail and the activation of the encryption settings of your e-mail program. STEP 1: INSTALLATION Download the file SSE2008int.exe through the link contained in the e-mail that you received from the Steganos Online Shop and double-click on the file. We recommend that you close all other running programs before installation. Then please simply click next in the far-right corner of the window. 2
In the next window, please accept the license agreement and wait until the system status is checked. In the pop-up window you can select the installation destination. We recommend that you don t change any of the standard properties. Now you can select which components you would like to install. For example, if you select Desktop Shortcuts, an icon will be placed on your desktop, from which you can directly run Steganos Secure E-Mail. In the following window, please click Finish in order to complete the installation. 3
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USE OF STEGANOS SECURE E-MAIL In the following window, please enter in the top field the e-mail address you would like to use to send and receive encrypted e-mails. Then enter the serial number that you received from the Steganos Online-Shop e-mail into the bottom field. If you have a personal firewall installed, this will now warn you that an outgoing TCP connection named LDAPCLIENT.EXE would like to connect to the internet. Please allow this connection. In the next window you will be asked whether you would like to register your e-mail address in the Steganos directory server. This works like an entry in a telephone book for Steganos Secure E-Mail users: other users can only send you encrypted e-mails directly if your e-mail address is in this "directory", The important difference between this directory and a normal telephone book is that one cannot simply search for people whom he/she does not know at all. Rather, the user must know the complete e-mail address for the search function to work. It is also not possible to search for an address such as Peter*, and find all e-mail addresses that begin with Peter. Each user must search directly for a specific address, for example: sales@steganos.com. This ensures that you only receive encrypted e-mails from people that already know your complete address. 5
In the next step the two keys which are needed for the encryption and decryption of your e-mails are produced automatically. So that your e-mail program can also use these keys, they must be saved in the Windows Certificate Storage, which is already automatically on every Windows computer therefore you need to do nothing. Simply click on OK, and the key production and storage occur automatically and invisibly in the background. In the next step you will assign a password for your pair of keys: thus you protect it against unauthorized access by other users of your computer. You must enter the password again only if you wish to use another mail program than Outlook as you have to import the pair of keys into the other mail program. Please take care to remember the keys. 6
Next you will see a window that prepares you for an upcoming automatic security warning from Windows, since only the certificates created by Windows do not receive this warning. We ensure you that the Steganos certificate will be seamlessly installed, so please click OK in the two next windows. Now the installation process for the E-Mail Encryption is finished, and you see the main window of Steganos Secure E-Mail: 7
Now you can search for complete e-mail addresses in the Steganos directory server. Simply enter the complete e-mail address of the person in the top field, to whom you would like to send an encrypted e-mail, and click search. If the owner of the e-mail address is already a user of Steganos Secure E-Mail, the following window will appear: You then receive an e-mail with the signature of the contact, and can reply directly with an encrypted e-mail. If the e-mail address is not yet in the Steganos directory, you are 8
automatically asked whether you would like to invite the owner of this e-mail address to a free guest access. If you click Yes, an automatically generated invitation e-mail will be sent to the person you have chosen to invite. In the main window you can see to whom you have sent invitations, and what their status is: 9
You then receive an e-mail from the e-mail address of the user you have invited that includes his/her digital signature. You can then directly send an encrypted and signed answer and therefore communicate securely immediately. In the e-mail Outbox you see that the e-mail is indicated as being encrypted. 10
That s why the mail can t be shown in the preview window. As soon as you open the e-mail, the plain text will be shown. The symbols for encryption and signature show you that this e-mail is both encrypted and digitally signed. Accordingly, the same applies to encrypted e-mails which you receive from others: they are not visible in the preview window, but as soon as you open them, they are readable in plain language, since the encryption and decryption take place automatically - therefore you need enter no passwords. The key pair for your guest, provided by Steganos, is valid for two weeks; therefore you can, without restriction, exchange encrypted e-mails for that time. At the end of two weeks, your guest can decide to also purchase a full copy of Steganos Secure E-Mail: thus you can further communicate 11
securely, as soon as the new Steganos user sends you a digitally signed e-mail in order to transfer his new certificate. If the invitee decides not to use Steganos Secure E-Mail any further, your mail program will indicate that you cannot send encrypted e-mails to this receiver anymore. ------ STEP 2: ACTIVATION OF THE ENCRYPTION SETTINGS IN YOUR E-MAIL PROGRAM Most e-mail programs have the capability to encrypt and digitally sign e-mails if the necessary software is available. With Steganos Secure E-Mail you have the technical possibilities: now only the proper button in your e-mail program is missing! This button is not pre-installed in most e-mail programs- we show you where to find it. OUTLOOK 2003 If you use Outlook, click in the main window on Extras and choose Options. In the following window, please click the Security tab. At the top you see Encrypted Message. Check the box that says Send Digitally Signed messages as Plain-Text, if it is not already checked. Then click on OK. Tip: If you want to only send encrypted e-mails, activate the top field Encrypt message and attachments. Outlook will automatically try with each e-mail to send it encrypted, and warn you if it is not possible because no receiver certificate is present. In this case you would then have to invite the recipient as described in the Steganos Secure E-Mail main window. 12
Click on Properties in the top field beside Standard Properties and click OK in the following window. 13
Now click either on Reply in one of the digitally signed e-mails that you have received from other users of Steganos Secure E-Mail, to reply to that user directly via encrypted e-mail, or open a new mail in Outlook. Normally it will look similar to this: If the buttons don t appear in the menu of your mail, perhaps you have too many buttons in a row, so that all the buttons cannot be shown at once. Simply click with the 14
mouse on the symbol that is on the farthest right of the Menu. Now choose Show Buttons on Two rows. Now you have both buttons available in your e-mail: Now you can encrypt each desired e-mail. Write your e-mail like usual. So that your e- mail is not only encrypted, but also to enable your communication partners to send you an encrypted answer, the e-mail has to be not only encrypted, but also digitally signed: please make sure that both buttons are activated in the tool bar before sending. ----- OUTLOOK EXPRESS AND WINDOWS MAIL In Outlook Express and Windows Mail, both buttons indicating encryption and the digital signature are already shown in each new e-mail. Therefore you can encrypt and digitally sign e-mails immediately after the installation of Steganos Secure E-Mail. 15
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