The Bottom Line
Enigmail adds easy to use and competent support for both plain text and MIME-compatible OpenPGP message encryption and signing to Mozilla SeaMonkey, Thunderbird and Netscape.
Pros
- Enigmail adds strong GnuPG security to Mozilla, Thunderbird and Netscape
- Easy to use, works transparently and with per-account settings
- Doesn't interfere with but complements Mozilla's S/MIME support
Cons
- Enigmail has a tad too many options that are not all explained well
- Lacks key management power and comfort
Description
- Enigmail is a Mozilla and Netscape add-on adding support for GnuPG message security.
- Can handle both plain text PGP messages and OpenPGP, which offers attachment encryption and more.
- Enigmail encrypts and signs, decrypts and verifies email messages.
- You can create your own key pair from within Enigmail and import or export keys, too.
- Enigmail lets you save encrypted mail in deciphered state.
- Complete OpenPGP key management lets you sign, retrieve, update and edit keys in Enigmail.
- Enigmail lets you specify individual encryption settings by recipient.
- You can have Enigmail show the photo ID when it verifies a signature.
- Enigmail supports Mozilla, Thunderbird and Netscape 7 on Windows, Linux, OS/2 and Mac OS X.
Guide Review - Enigmail 1.0 - Mozilla Thunderbird Security Extension
Mozilla SeaMonkey, Thunderbird and Netscape come with easy to use S/MIME message security built in. What's missing is support for the "competing" encryption standard, OpenPGP. Enigmail corrects this, and it does a pretty good privacy job.
Enigmail is a bit option-happy and some of the settings are neither obvious nor readily explained. Usually, this is no problem. Using (and even setting up) Enigmail is just as smooth as using S/MIME is in Mozilla Thunderbird. Enigmail even handles the standard's double standard for old plain text inline PGP messages and newer OpenPGP MIME-compatible mail well.
Not only can you create your own key pair and define a default key per email account, Enigmail also offers full-blown key management and lets you specify OpenPGP settings per recipient. Unfortunately, this functionality does not integrate with Mozilla Thunderbird's address book.
