message encryption · CISSP Study Group

Aug 25 (edited) in 📣 General

message encryption

Okay, I'm pulling my hair out with encrypted message sending.

At a base level, Bob wants to send an encrypted message to Alice, he uses her public key to encrypt and she uses her private to decrypt. As base as that, there is no non-repudiation going on. Correct?

For non-repudiation to take place, Bob would have to digitally sign, using his private key, correct?

I've heard that most IMAP email systems now transport messages encrypted. Is this different/separate from users who want to send encrypted messages? I noticed that Outlook/Hotmail, now has an option to encrypt messages. Is this above and beyond Outlook/Hotmail's standard encryption?

I hope my question makes sense. Am I overanalyzing a simple process?

------Update 8/26

Hopefully a better understanding for myself and others interested in possible clarification. Twenty-Five years ago,(general/home/public) email and communication through BBS's and chat apps, messages in general were sent in clear text, not encrypted. Over time, "Standards, hope I'm using the correct word OR Internet Current Best Practices as per RFC 6838", have implemented some security, like TLS (Transport Layer Security).

I want to state again that English is one of my worst subjects. For so long, if I heard the word Encryption, I would think of Security which would have me think of the CIA Triad. For the CISSP, these words do not mean the same.

For me, this now means that Encryption is an intentional additional effort between two or more Subjects/Objects to exchange information with additional algorithms to safely exchange information safely in secret.

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