Thunderbird and OpenPGP Alias Keys

The Thunderbird OpenPGP Alias Keys feature

The OpenPGP Alias Keys feature is used for sending an encrypted email using a public key that does not contain fully specified email addresses for each message recipient. Such a key is created using an advanced configuration mechanism, rather than a public key that contains one or multiple names and email addresses.

For example, a company might publish a single public key that doesn't contain any specific email address, intended for sending encrypted email to any employee of the company. When receiving an email that was encrypted with that key, the company might then decrypt the email, and then forward the decrypted email to the intended recipient. While this isn't complete End-To-End Encryption, at least the email will be encrypted while passing through the public Internet, until it arrives at the company's email server.

Regardless of the type of key used to send an encrypted message, Thunderbird requires that you have an accepted and usable OpenPGP public key for each recipient. That key contains several attributes, including technical key material, a validity period, and either one or multiple user identities or identifying information from the