Using the secure reader
Contents
Adding an Attachment to Encrypted Email
Reading a Secure Message on a Smart Phone
Receiving Encrypted Email
You have received a secure, encrypted message from a sender at Allstate.
Click the "Click here" link or on attachment in the message to launch a browser to authenticate so that you can decrypt and read the message.
Note: If you see red X icons in the browser, your email client is blocking images. These images are typically the logo or images of the sender's organization. You can display the images or ignore them without affecting your ability to read the message.
- If you have not registered for the Secure Reader, you will be prompted to create an account and choose a password on the Registration page. Click Continue when you are done. In the future, you will not be prompted to register.
- If you have already registered, or if your account already exists, you will be prompted to sign in and provide your password to decrypt the message. Click Continue.
- If you sign in, and the Login screen returns with a field that you can edit for your user name, it means Secure Reader found a record for you, but the email address is different - perhaps an email alias. Enter a different address to sign in. For example, a record for jsmith@example.com exists, but you entered joe@example.com - your alias for jsmith.
Forgot your password?
Click the Forgot Password link. You will be prompted for your security question. Create a new password for your account.
Replying or Forwarding
You have the ability to edit the recipient list when you reply to or forward an encrypted message. Add or delete recipients to and from the To and CC recipient fields, separating multiple recipients with a comma.
Adding an Attachment to Encrypted Email
If you want to add an attachment to a message, click the Attach a file link. Navigate to the file you want to attach and then click the Add link. The name of the attached file displays in the dialog box. Click Upload when you are done adding attachments.
To delete an attachment from a message, click the X link to the right of the attachment.
Note: The (combined) attachments cannot exceed 15 MB in size.
Reading a Secure Message on a Smart Phone
Some Smart Phones cannot download files, and some Smart Phones modify HTML files. Since your secure message is sent to you as an HTML attachment, you may not be able to read it on your Smart Phone. If you have trouble reading your secure message, follow the instructions to forward the message to another server. You will then be able to download the message from the server to read it.
Troubleshooting
This section describes error messages and what they mean.
- You authenticated successfully, but do not have permission to decrypt this message.
You do not have permission to decrypt this message. Or, the administrator has disabled your ability to decrypt the message. Contact the sender of the message. - You authenticated successfully, but the decryption key for your message has been deleted.
The decryption key for this message has expired or has been deleted. Contact the sender of the message. - There was a critical error processing your request. There may be a problem with the system or your request.
Secure Reader is temporarily unavailable. If this situation persists, contact the sender of the message. - The message you are trying to read is corrupted and cannot be processed. Please contact the sender of the message.
The message is corrupted and cannot be decrypted. Contact the sender of the message. - The page you requested was not found. If you clicked a link to get here, click the Back button in your browser to return to the previous page.
The page you are trying to view in the browser is not available or does not exist. Click the Back button in your browser. - The username you requested has already been registered.
You have already authenticated with Secure Reader. - There was an error retrieving the key for your message. If this error persists, please contact your administrator.
The key server is temporarily unavailable. Try again later, and if you still cannot decrypt the message, contact the sender of the message. - Your account has been disabled.
Your Secure Reader account has been disabled due to inactivity. Create a new Secure Reader account. - Login Disabled
You do not have permission to perform this action. - Account Temporarily Locked Out
Your Secure Reader account has been locked out due to too many failed authentication attempts. For assistance, please call the help desk at 877-597-0570 and say "Internet Support" at the voice prompt.
Other Issues
Error with Large HTML Secure Messages.
If your HTML message contains more than 500 KB of content, you may encounter a "Large Message Warning" error message. This limitation applies to Firefox 3.X or Internet Explorer browsers when you reply to the message or forward it. This limitation does not apply to plain text.
Intermittent Problem with Replying to or Forwarding Secure Messages
If the Secure Reader hangs when you try to compose a message and click the Reply, Reply All, or Forward links, click Cancel and try again. If the original text of the secure message does not display in the browser, refresh the browser or close the browser and open it again. The behavior is infrequent, intermittent, and typically works the second time around.
If you use Outlook 2007 on Windows Vista.
Do not save the SecureMessageAtt.htm attachment to disk and then try to open it. Open it from the email message.