Utstar pn820 User Guide

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You can help prevent impersonation, tampering, and eavesdropping 
when sending e-mail messages from your Outlook e-mail account by 
using Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) digital 
signatures and encryption.

A signature helps prevent impersonation and tampering. Impersonation 
occurs when a hacker sends e-mail messages and pretends to be 
someone else. Tampering occurs when a hacker intercepts your 
e-mail messages and changes the message without the recipient’s 
knowledge.

Signing a message applies the sender’s certificate (and public key) to 
the message. This proves to the recipient that the message is from the 
sender and not from an imposter.

Encryption helps prevent eavesdropping, which occurs when a hacker 
intercepts and reads your e-mail messages. Using a cryptographic 
message format such as S/MIME for encryption helps improve 
e-mail privacy because it converts plain, readable text of the message 
into cipher (scrambled) text. The sender’s messaging program uses 
the recipient’s public key to encrypt (lock) the e-mail message and 
attachments. Only the recipient who has the private key that matches 
the public key you used to encrypt the message can decipher 
(unscramble) the message.

A certificate is a digital means of proving your identity. When you send 
a digitally signed message, you are sending your certificate and public 
key. Certificates can expire or be revoked.