April 29, 2011
Homefield IT
When we create a letter in the analog world, we take the time to seal that letter in an envelope to keep it safe from prying eyes—especially if that letter contains sensitive information. If it’s highly confidential information we might even resort to obfuscation such as using coded text, or making sure that it is delivered via secure channels such as by special messenger.
Encrypting email is relatively easy with today’s software. Usually it involves the use of a public key and a private key. The public key is available to everyone, and if you want to send someone an email message you would use that person’s public key to encrypt that message. That person in turn would use his private key, to which only he has access, to decode that message.
Software such as the latest versions of Microsoft Outlook supports this feature, and even flags you if the recipient’s email software does not support encryption. Some systems take it a step further by allowing you to digitally sign your emails, so that other people can verify that it is you who actually sent the email and not someone else. This is especially important since hackers sometimes spoof or impersonate the identities of others to fool unsuspecting users.
If you are interested in finding out more about email encryption and security, contact us today to find out how we can help make sure your messages are safe and secure.