Kodamail offers Public / Private Key (asymmetric) encryption or AES 256 symmetric, both using the
OpenPGP.js library.
With Public/Private key encryption a pair of keys is created, you give the public key to everyone and that is used to encrypt the message. The private key
you keep secret and is used to decrypt any message that was encrypted with the corresponding public key.
AES 256 Symmetric encryption uses a pass phrase or password to encrypt the message, the same pass phrase is used to encrypt and decrypt,
so you have to give the pass phrase to whoever needs to decrypt. Both methods are extremely strong, but Public Private key encryption has one major advantage
- you don't have to give a pass phrase to the receiver of the message.
Like many email providers Gmail will save your message as you type into the drafts folder, this is a very useful feature but when encrypting a message maybe
not such a good idea!
So your message is not saved at all until after encryption.
(Gmail will save a draft email with recipients email and subject when typeing but message body is not saved until message is encrypted).
A YouTube
Asymmetric encryption - Simply explained is worth watching.
A good explanation of Public key cryptography (encryption & decryption):
Public key cryptography: What is it, how it works and how to use it in email and file encryption.
A wikipedia article entitled "Pretty Good Privacy" details the history of PGP and how it evolved:
Pretty Good Privacy.
In this example we assume the email address in the 'To' field has already given his public key to you the sender of the email.
(To create your own public/private key pair and how to store Public keys, visit this link:
Create and manage public private keys)
When you enter the email address the extension looks in your local storage for a public key(s) for that email, if it finds more than one key they are displayed
as below:
You can have multiple email addresses in the "To" field each using their own public key, as you type in their email address their public keys will be displayed,
just click on the appropiate key to select it. Each individual will have to use their own corresponding private key to decrypt the message.
Note: for this to work you must have the public keys of the recipients before you start, and you cannot mix public/private key encryption with AES 256 in the same message.
Click on the public key Id to select it,
If there is only one Public key stored for that email it will automatically select it and the email address will turn green as below:
write your message then click the 'Encrypt' button and then 'Send'.
Visit
Create and manage public, private keys for further information.
Encryption will default to AES 256 if a Public Key for the receiver of the message can't be found. To enable encryption either click on the padlock icon
next to main compose button:
or the padlock icon at bottom of compose box:
Enter the email address in the 'To' field and then enter a pass phrase:
The pass phrase must be between 20 to 250 chrs long. If you want to send an encrypted message to someone
who doesn't have the kodamail extension then tick the box next to "Put a link to decrypt in email", clicking on the link
will enable them to decrypt and view the message. By default the pass phrase is deleted from memory after the message is encrypted,
this is recommended but you can select to keep it in memory for longer if you wish.
Click The encrypt button and then send,
the AES 256 encrypted message will look like this:
If you're using AES 256 Encryption, give the pass phrase to the recipient in person or by text, preferably not by email as email is inherently insecure.
