Network architecture

Webmail Messenger can be configured as an add-on to the CipherMail gateway or in stand-alone mode. When Webmail Messenger is configured as an add-on to the gateway, the gateway decides whether an email should be sent via Webmail Messenger. In stand-alone mode, all email relayed via Webmail Messenger will be sent via Webmail Messenger.

Add-on mode

In this setup CipherMail Messenger is configured as an add-on to the CipherMail gateway. The CipherMail gateway decides whether email should be sent via Webmail Messenger.

CipherMail Webmail Add-on

  1. User sends an email via Exchange (or some other mail server)

  2. Exchange forwards the email to the CipherMail gateway.

  3. A rule on the CipherMail gateway flags that the email must be delivered via Webmail Messenger.

  4. The email gets S/MIME signed with the webmail sender key and encrypted with the webmail recipient certificate and forwarded via email to Webmail Messenger. Webmail Messenger decrypts the mail, checks the signature and places the email in the mailbox of the recipient(s).

  5. A notification email is sent to the recipient.

  6. The user logs-in, using 2-factor authentication if enabled, with a browser via HTTPS and reads the email online.

Stand-alone mode

In this setup CipherMail Messenger is configured in stand-alone mode. The mail server connecting to CipherMail messenger should have some rule which decides whether email should be sent via Webmail Messenger.

CipherMail Webmail Stand-alone

  1. User sends an email via Exchange (or some other mail server)

  2. Some rule on Exchange decides that the email should be sent via Webmail Messenger.

  3. A notification email is sent to the recipient.

  4. The user logs-in, using 2-factor authentication if enabled, with a browser via HTTPS and reads the email online.

Note

For simplicity, the above examples do not show how multiple Webmail Messenger’s can be configured in a high availability cluster. A HA cluster is however supported.