Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)

A MIME email message contains a normal Internet text message along with some special headers and formatted sections of text. Each such section can hold an ASCII encoded portion of data. Each section starts with an explanation as to how the data that follows should be interpreted/decoded at the recipient's end. The recipient's email system uses this explanation to decode the data.

Let us consider a simple example containing MIME header. The Content Type MIME header shows the fact that the sender has attached a GIF file to this message. The actual image would be sent as a part of the message after this, and would appear gibberish when viewed in the text form (because it would be the binary representation of the image). However, the recipient's email system shall recognize that this is a GIF file, and as such, it should invoke an appropriate program that can read, interpret and display contents of a GIF file.

From: Achyut Godbole
To: Atul Kahate
Subject: Cover image for the book
MIME Version: 1.0
Content Type: image/gif

One danger introduced by MIME is email viruses. Since before MIME, an email message could contain only ASCII text data, there was no scope for viruses being transmitted via emails. However, because anyone can send any binary file using MIME with email, it is quite possible that the binary file contains viruses. To prevent such a possibility, or at least to reduce its impact, usually all modem anti virus software program automatically check incoming email attachments for existence of viruses, and either clean them and then open the attachment, or directly delete the virus infected attachment, and inform the user accordingly. Since a lot of information and messages are exchanged using emails, these days, viruses propagate via emails more than through any other sources (such as floppy disks).

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