This article provides instructions for sending and receiving encrypted email through UNC's system.
Intro
UNC Encrypted Email provides message encryption between the sender and external recipient and can be received by any email user, independent of the email client or operating system, without installing any software. This will encrypt the entire email including attachments. Any emails between University Employees are already secure and encrypted. Please keep in mind that not all domains with UNC are internal. We have some domains that are run by other organizations which are external such as UNC Health. If you are unsure about a domain being internal or external, please contact your supervisor.
Please note:
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If you have questions regarding the type of messages or data that should be encrypted, ask your immediate supervisor for assistance.
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There is a 50 mb size limit when sending email, this includes email body and attachments.
Information
How to Create an Encrypted Email Message
The following steps illustrate the procedure for creating an encrypted email message originating from UNC Chapel Hill to an external recipient – i.e., a non-UNC email address.
NOTE: Sending emails to internal recipients (UNC email addresses) is allowed as well.
1. The sender must include a specific trigger in the subject field of the email for encryption to occur. The subject trigger is: (secure). Make sure you include the parenthesis and a space at the end when typing the trigger (secure) into the subject line of your email. After including the (secure) trigger, you can follow it with a normal subject line, as seen in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1:
2. The recipient will receive a notification that they have received an encrypted message in a few moments. Figure 2 is an example of the message as seen by the recipient.
Figure 2:
3. To open the secure message, the recipient is directed to open the attachment. The attachment includes a link to a sign-in page, as seen in Figure 3 below. External users can sign in with their existing Google, Microsoft, or Yahoo! accounts. Otherwise, the external users can ask to be sent a one-time passcode.
Figure 3:
