Encrypted emails are the best way to ensure that your company’s sensitive information stays out of the hands of unauthorized individuals. They also help to prevent data breaches, such as a hacked email that could expose your company to hackers.
Encryption is the process of scrambling an email’s content so that only a person with your private key can read it. This helps protect against phishing scams and identity theft.
1. It’s not necessary
Email is a vital part of communication, but it’s not as secure as many would like. In fact, according to Symantec’s latest Internet Security Encrypted Email Threat Report, one in 323 smaller organizations are targeted by malicious emails.
This is a problem for companies that rely on email to coordinate meetings, communicate with clients and send sensitive information to employees and partners. Keeping this sensitive data confidential is crucial for avoiding data leaks and protecting against corporate espionage.
Encryption helps keep this information from being seen by anyone outside of the company. It also protects the official records that large corporations need to have for legal purposes. It’s a simple solution that should be adopted by any business, big or small. However, it’s not often implemented because of a few reasons. Ultimately, encryption is not necessary for everyone but should be adopted as soon as possible. There are a few common misconceptions about encrypted emails that can prevent you from implementing this vital security measure.
2. It’s too expensive
Emails are a critical aspect of business today. They help employees coordinate meetings, share key information with clients, and perform almost any other task that relies on communication. However, with a plethora of hacking threats out there, email security is a topic that should be top of mind for all companies.
In addition, the ubiquity of email means that it’s easier than ever to send out unencrypted emails, which can pose a serious threat to a company’s data. This can lead to a variety of issues, including stolen or sold personal and/or financial data.
Thankfully, there are a number of email encryption vendors that offer HIPAA compliant email encryption services at reasonable prices for small and mid-sized businesses. These include Barracuda, Egress, Hushmail, Indentillect, LuxSci, MailHippo, NeoCertified, Protected Trust, ProtonMail, and Virtru. They all offer similar features and pricing. The best email encryption solution for your business should be easy to implement and offer a high level of protection.
3. It’s too complicated
Emails are a staple of most workplaces and allow employees to communicate without having to worry about distributing faxes or digging through piles of junk. However, email is also a medium that’s susceptible to hacking and phishing attacks. To protect sensitive information from being compromised, many companies turn to encryption.
In order to encrypt an email, both the sender and recipient have to have a key pair. A public key is used by the sender to encrypt the message, while a private key is kept secret and only used by the recipient.
To decrypt an encrypted email, the recipient has to log into a website that’s secured by the shared keys before they can read it. This is similar to how a letter or package is secured by placing it inside a special envelope, which is usually made of some material that is difficult for anyone to break into. Although this may seem like an overly complicated process, it’s a necessary step to keeping your business data safe from hackers.
4. It’s too easy
Encryption is a technology tool that can help protect email messages from hackers. In most cases, the process scrambles data so only the recipient with a certain key can read it. This is necessary to safeguard sensitive information that can be accessed by hackers, eavesdroppers or data thieves.
In addition, email encryption can prevent spam, malware and phishing attacks by making it difficult for unscrupulous senders to impersonate your account. Additionally, the digital signature that’s a part of encrypted emails helps to tip off recipients that you’re a real person sending them a message.
Conclusion
You can encrypt emails within Microsoft Outlook by clicking the Options button located on the top menu, selecting Security Settings and then clicking Encrypt. A lock icon will appear near the name of the recipient if S/MIME is enabled and you can choose from three different levels of encryption to ensure your data is protected: Red (no encryption), Gray (encrypted with TLS) or Green (S/MIME enhanced encryption). Decrypting email messages requires a private key, which only the intended recipient can possess.
