FAQ on New HKUST WebMail - Message Signing

Q1. How to send "Signed Email" with HKUST WebMail?

Please refer to the page at Sending "Signed Email" with HKUST WebMail.

Back to FAQ Index


Q2. There seems no response at the "Please wait, now signing..." screen, why?

If you sign message with large attachment (up to 5 MB in total) on a less powerful PC (e.g. slower than Pentium III 1 GHz), you would expect to wait for several minutes. Avoid sending signed message with large attachments.

Back to FAQ Index


Q3. Is there any limitation on the size of attachment with "Signed Email"?

Yes. The total size of the attachments allowed when sending "Signed Email" with HKUST WebMail is limited to 5 MB. However, you can always send "Signed Email" with large attachments using email clients such as Netscape Messenger, Microsoft Outlook, etc.

Back to FAQ Index


Q4. Why is there "Unverified digital signature" message while reading some of the "Signed Email"?

For signed email with attachments of 2 MB or above, HKUST WebMail will display the message without verifying the digital signature for better performance. You will need to click on the Verify digital signature option explicitly in order to verify such email.

Back to FAQ Index


Q5. Why is there some text / special codes added when I sign message with attachment?

If you sign message with attachment, mail headers like the following will be added:

    Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
     boundary="----=_20030708143028_57519" 
    ------=_20030708143028_57519 

    Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 
    Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

If you sign message with binary attachment, the content of attachment will be encoded and looks like codes. For example,

    ------=_20030708143028_57519 Content-Type: application/msword; name="a.doc" 
    Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="a.doc" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 
    base64 0M8R4KGxGuEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPgADAP7/CQAGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAAAAMAAAA 
    EAAAMgAAAAEAAAD+////AAAAAC8AAAD///////////////////////////////////////////// 
    //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 
    //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA1Db25j 
    dXJyZW50IGNvbm5lY3Rpb24HMTBLQgcxTUIHNU1CBzEwTUIHMTVNQgcHMQcwLjA4cwcxLjNzBzI3 
    cwcxMDRzBzI1MHMHBzEwBzAuNThzBzEzcwcyNjdzB04vQQdOL0EHBzEwMAc1Ljg2cwcxMzFzB04v 
    QQdOL0EHTi9BBwcNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 
    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 
    ------=_20030708143028_57519   
Back to FAQ Index