Author Topic: PGP or S/MIME  (Read 19789 times)

Nadejda Fudulska, MobiSystems, AquaMail support

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PGP or S/MIME
« on: January 09, 2020, 04:40:14 pm »
Hi guys,

We began research on a new feature (PGP & S/MIME encryption), requested by many for quite some time now.

This will be a time consuming effort, therefore we'd like to hear your opinion.
« Last Edit: January 09, 2020, 04:42:56 pm by Nadejda Fudulska, MobiSystems, AquaMail support »

drjat

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Re: PGP or S/MIME
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2020, 05:13:31 am »
What are the pros and cons of each please?
Also - any plans to introduce ActiveSync (in addition to or instead of EWS)?

Michael Maslarov, Aqua Mail

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Re: PGP or S/MIME
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2020, 06:28:45 pm »
So I found this summary for everybody to check out from here:
http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/software-technology/difference-between-pgp-and-smime/

Summary:
S/MIME and PGP protocols use different formats for key exchange.
PGP depends upon each user’s key exchange S/MIME uses hierarchically validated certifier for key exchange.
PGP was developed to address the security issues of plain text messages. But S/MIME is designed to secure all kinds of attachments/data files.
Nowadays, S/MIME is known to dominate the secure electronic industry because it is incorporated into many commercial e-mail packages.
S/MIME products are cheaply available than for PGP.

And alternatively more info here too:
https://www.thesecuritybuddy.com/pgp-and-gpg/smime-vs-pgp/


HeikoE

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Re: PGP or S/MIME
« Reply #3 on: February 08, 2020, 10:30:46 pm »
What is the way to get a certificate to be used with s/mime?
I used PGP by now and here you simply create a pair of keys. You share the public part and keep the private part in a safe location.
For s/mime I read about "authorities" where you get the keys from, and that did not seem to be free of charge. Correct me, if I am wrong.
Maybe the s/mime certificates from authorities provide more safety, who the author of a signed mail is. Anyway just using own PGP certificates seems to be more convenient for me.
In conclusion I would vote for PGP.

btrc

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Re: PGP or S/MIME
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2020, 01:53:52 pm »
I would definitely vote for the open PGP, as  you typically have to buy a certificate for S/MIME.  Thawte offered free certificates for this before, but they have discontinued the service.

chris122380

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Re: PGP or S/MIME
« Reply #5 on: December 16, 2020, 08:15:53 am »
Any news at where we are at in getting one of these added to Aquamail?

mikeone

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Re: PGP or S/MIME
« Reply #6 on: December 16, 2020, 08:28:23 am »
Here is a brief statement from the MobiSystems team:

https://www.aqua-mail.com/forum/index.php?topic=2897.msg44889#msg44889

btrc

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Re: PGP or S/MIME
« Reply #7 on: December 16, 2020, 09:21:07 am »
Thanks, looking forward for PGP.

Radoslav Stoyanov

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Re: PGP or S/MIME
« Reply #8 on: March 25, 2021, 04:37:07 pm »
Hi all,

We've published a new beta on Google Play which has added support for S/MIME message encryption and signing. We'd appreciate all user feedback for the new feature, so that we can fix any issues, if such are found. You can contact us at support /at/ aqua-mail /dot/ com with a detailed description of the issue, your Android version and a debug log.

https://www.aqua-mail.com/forum/index.php?topic=8077.0

Regards,
Radoslav
AquaMail Team
« Last Edit: March 25, 2021, 04:50:27 pm by Radoslav Stoyanov »
AquaMail QA Team

pucicu

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Re: PGP or S/MIME
« Reply #9 on: November 17, 2024, 12:49:41 pm »
I cannot believe that pgp encryption is not yet implemented in Aqua Mail. I agree with all the others that S/MIME does not be the better choice. I'm using both and my experience is very clear that S/MIME is absolutely not reliable in contrast to PGP. S/MIME certificates terminate after some time without notification and users are not aware that their emails are not encrypted anymore. PGP in contrast complains when it is not possible to encrypt. This is just one example. Another important one is that it is not easy for non-business users to get a certificate. Thus, it is much much more convenient using PGP.

It is my personal opinion and experience.

I would be happy to pay an additional addon for Aqua Mail if it would be included.

pucicu

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Re: PGP or S/MIME
« Reply #10 on: November 17, 2024, 12:56:21 pm »

PGP was developed to address the security issues of plain text messages. But S/MIME is designed to secure all kinds of attachments/data files.

PGP also encrypts entire messages including "all kinds of attachments/data files".

Nowadays, S/MIME is known to dominate the secure electronic industry because it is incorporated into many commercial e-mail packages.
S/MIME products are cheaply available than for PGP.

In my company we have both, where PGP encryption dominates and S/MIME is causing permanently problems.