S/MIME: So that confidential information remains confidential ...

We all use the standard MIME format (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) for e-mail traffic worldwide. This allows us, for example, to use special German characters outside the ASCII format (ß, ä, ü etc.). However, standardization is always susceptible to attack - which hackers try to exploit for their own purposes.

The S/MIME format ('Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions') was developed to avoid this danger. It is used to sign and/or encrypt emails. To be able to use S/MIME, users must be equipped with an X.509-based certificate.

An unauthorized user can then only read a jumble of letters from an email encrypted in this way. Only knowledge of the sender's key, which was sent to him in a certified e-mail, enables the recipient to read such e-mails.

To participate in S/MIME mail traffic, identity-secured registration with a certification authority (CA) is mandatory. Our IT service enables those customers who operate with confidential data (lawyers, doctors, developers or trustees) to participate securely and easily in this 'intrusion-proof mail traffic'.