Opening Your First EaSecure Message

Before you open any EaSecure message sent to your email address, each EaSecure message sent to that email address will be protected by a different one-time password. The one-time password is sent to you in a separate email from the EaSecure server. To open your first EaSecure message (you can open any one-time-password-protected EaSecure message sent to the same email address as your first message):

(1) If you have a plug-in installed for your email program, double click the EaSecure message in the Inbox or select the message in the Inbox and select "Open" under the "File" menu. If you use the standalone client, simply open the ".eas" attachment (e.g. double click the attachment).

(2) Enter the corresponding one-time password and click . The EaSecure client will generate public/private keys for your email address.

(3) When key generation completes, enter your own password (twice), and click . You should select a password that you can remember but is difficult for others to guess. It is best to use a password that contains mixed upper and lower case letters, numbers, and non-alphanumerical characters. You can also use a long phrase that contains several words and punctuations.

Please note: After you have opened your first EaSecure message, you can only use EaSecure with that email address on that particular computer. To use EaSecure on another computer, you must export your keys to that computer. It is also important that you keep an export file for key-recovery purposes, in case your key becomes lost (e.g. a disk crash).

If the one-time password for opening an EaSecure message has already expired, click here to learn how to open it. One-time passwords expire after 7 days.

Opening EaSecure Messages after the first time

After you have opened your first EaSecure message sent to your email address and created your own password, you can open ALL past and future EaSecure messages sent to the same email address by doing the following:

(1) If you have a plug-in installed for your email program, double click the EaSecure message in the Inbox or select the message in the Inbox and select "Open" under the "File" menu. If you use the standalone client, simply open the ".eas" attachment (e.g. double-click the ".eas" attachment).

(2) Enter your own password and click . You may instruct the EaSecure client to remember your password for a certain length of time so that you do not have to enter it every time you open or send an EaSecure message. Click here for more details.

When you open an EaSecure message, the message will be decrypted, the digital signature of the sender will be verified to ensure the message's integrity and authenticity, and the content will be displayed in a separate window of your email client (if you use a plug-in), or in the standalone client (if you use the standalone client). If there is any error in the verification, the EaSecure client will tell you that the message is corrupted or has been tampered with.

After an EaSecure message is opened, you may open or save attachments, if there are any. You may also reply, reply to all, forward, or compose a new message.