SSL (Secure Email)
Contents
SSL Email - How It Works
When using SSL with email via an email client, you are securing the connection between your email client and the mail server. When using SSL (via the ports mentioned below), it will encrypt the connection immediately upon connecting to secure the email that is being downloaded (POP or IMAP) or sent (SMTP). This does not mean that the email was encrypted during any other time. It would only be encrypted during that connection.
To send truly encrypted email from start to finish, meaning, encrypted when sent, encrypted during delivery, encrypted during downloading, then you would have to 'sign' each email with a Private Key from a certificate. However, no one could read your email unless they had the matching Public Key, making this means of communication virtually unusable.
Using SSL with Email (as outlined at the beginning of this) is really simple and easy. In your Email Client, generally this involves just checking the box to use SSL (if the box is there) and then using the Port numbers that are for the respective protocol.
You will also need to use the correct POP/IMAP Server Name and the correct SMTP server name, that correlates to the SSL Certificate. See the items below to get that setting depending on your email server type.
Here are the standard, non-SSL ports:
- SMTP - 25 or 26
- POP - 110
- IMAP - 143
The SSL ports to use are:
- SMTP - 465
- POP - 995
- IMAP - 993
SSL Email with SmarterMail Accounts
To find the SMTP and POP or IMAP server name to use for SSL, login to your WCP (Windows Control Panel) and click on WebMail. Look at the pre-propagation URL. It will look something like:
https://mail9.ezhostingserver.com/Login.aspx
In this example, the server name to use would be mail9.ezhostingserver.com so you would replace mail.your_domain.com with mail9.ezhostingserver.com in this example.
SSL Email with cPanel Accounts
To find the SMTP and POP or IMAP server name to use for SSL, login to your cPanel and click on SSL/TLS Manager under Security. Look at the link under Your Shared SSL Certficate URL. It will look something like:
https://cp1.hostek.com/~username
In this example, the server name to use would be cp1.hostek.com so you would replace mail.your_domain.com with cp1.hostek.com in this example.