Understanding Secure Email

Question

I\'ve got a question about securing emails with SSL.

If I get an SSL certificate to secure my email, that would mean that the connection between my mail client and my ma

Answer 1

If I get an SSL certificate to secure my email, that would mean that the connection between my mail client and my mail server will be encrypted.

No. But it would mean that it's possible to establish an encrypted connection to your server.

But what happens between the mail server and the destination mail server? And between there and the recipient's mail client? If the reciepient isn't using SSL, will the email and it's contents still be secure?

No. All you get from SSL-encrypting the connection to your server is the encrypted login dialog so attackers won't be able to look at your username/password.

If you want to protect your mail messages, you will have to encrypt them in the mail client. PGP and S/MIME come to mind.