Encryption Management Server does not log the cipher used for email encryption or decryption

Products

• Desktop Email Encryption
• Encryption Management Server
• Gateway Email Encryption

Issue/Introduction

The Encryption Management Server mail log does not show which cipher was used for encryption or decryption under Reporting / Logs / Mail.

• If an outbound message is encrypted to a PGP key or S/MIME certificate the log shows:

SMTP-00015: recipient 1/1 ([email protected]): signing, encrypting to 1 keys:

• If an inbound PGP or S/MIME encrypted message is decrypted the log shows this for a signed message:

SMTP-00011: recipient 1/1 ([email protected]): decrypting and verifying signature

• It shows this for an unsigned message:

SMTP-00014: recipient 1/1 ([email protected]): decrypting

Cause

This is by design.

Environment

• Encryption Management Server 3.3 or above using email encryption.
• Encryption Desktop 3.3 or above using email encryption.

Resolution

While Encryption Management Server does not log information about the cipher, Encryption Desktop does log information about the cipher when decrypting messages and also logs more information about encryption than Encryption Management Server:

• If an outbound message is encrypted to a PGP key and signed the Encryption Desktop log shows:

15:56:13 Email  Info    Encrypting PGP/MIME message to [email protected] with key(s):

15:56:13 Email  Info    Signing PGP/MIME message with key 'Internal User <[email protected]>' (0x6911F01B)

• If an outbound message is encrypted to an S/MIME certificate and signed the log shows:

15:48:30 Email  Info    Encrypting S/MIME message to [email protected] with key(s):

15:48:30 Email  Info    Signing S/MIME message with key 'Internal User <[email protected]>' (0x6911F01B)

• If an inbound PGP or S/MIME encrypted message is decrypted the log shows:

15:50:24 Email Info    Decrypting AES256-encrypted message with key 'Internal User <[email protected]>' (0x6911F01B:0x83FEB2F0)

15:51:15 Email Info    Decrypting AES128-encrypted message with key 'Internal User <[email protected]>' (0x6911F01B:0x83FEB2F0)

15:52:02 Email Info    Decrypting CAST-encrypted message with key 'Internal User <[email protected]>' (0x6911F01B:0x83FEB2F0)

15:52:17 Email Info    Decrypting TripleDES-encrypted message with key 'Internal User <[email protected]>' (0x6911F01B:0x83FEB2F0)

 

Symantec Corporation is committed to product quality and satisfied customers. Technical Support filed a Feature Request to add the functionality listed above. This Feature Request is currently being considered by Symantec Corporation to be addressed in a forthcoming version of the product.

There is no guaranteed date for this request from the Encryption Product Management team, or the Encryption Engineering team at this time. Please be sure to refer back to this article periodically as any changes to the status of the request will be reflected here. You can also subscribe to this article to receive notification when it is updated.