Enigmail is a security extension to Mozilla Thunderbird Email client that allows you to send digitally signed and / or encrypted emails with ease. It also automatically verifies the digital signature of the email you receive, and lets you decrypt any email encrypted with your public key.

OpenPGP menu in Thunderbird email client.

Enigmail uses public key cryptography to ensure privacy between you and your correspondents.

It will transform your Thunderbird email client into a free yet powerful email encryption software.

What you will need

You will need 3 pieces of software for digitally signing and encrypting your outgoing emails. They are as follows :

• Thunderbird – email client.
• GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG) – This is the encryption tool used to sign and/or (de)encrypt your emails.
• Enigmail – This is a plug-in for Thunderbird that lets Thunderbird interface seamlessly with GnuPG.

After you have installed all three pieces of software in the listed order, you are all set to start using Engimail for the stated purpose – namely, encrypting and decrypting your emails and digitally signing the email you send to others.

How you do it

Initially, you will need to generate a new key pair which will certify your identity – namely you are who-you-say you are.

This is done from within Thunderbird by opening the “Enigmail Key Manager” and starting the “New Key Wizard”. This whole process is explained clearly in the Enigmail quick start guide – generating a key pair.

After that, it is quite easy to digitally sign and encrypt your emails. Enigmail also allows you to selectively sign and/or encrypt your emails on a case by case basis.

Advantages of using Enigmail

• Gives the users confidentiality and assurance.
• Protect your sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands.
• Works seamlessly in Thunderbird with little user intervention.
• Selectively sign and/or encrypt your outgoing emails.
• You do not have to spend money on costly email encryption software.

Drawbacks of using Enigmail

If the person receiving your email is reading his mail through a web browser, he will have some trouble decrypting your emails or verifying your digital signature.

To sum up

Enigmail is a simple interface for OpenPGP email security. It works on any OS that Thunderbird runs on including Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX. Using Enigmail with Thunderbird is a free way of encrypting your email and digitally signing them.