Email Encryption Definition
Email encryption is an authentication process that prevents messages from being read by an unintended or unauthorized individual. Itscrambles the original sent message and converts it into an unreadable or undecipherable format. Email encryption is necessary when sharing sensitive information via email.
Hackers use email to target victims and steal data, such as personal information like names, addresses, and login credentials, then commit crimes likeidentity theft or identity fraud.Furthermore, most sent emails are encrypted while the data is transmitted, but the information is stored in clear text, making the content readable by email providers. Popular free-to-use email services typically do not provide end-to-endencryption, which means hackers can easily intercept sent messages.
Email encryption solutions use public-key cryptography and digital signature mechanisms to encrypt email messages. This process ensuresemail securityand guarantees only the intended recipient can open the email.
What Does Email Encryption Do?
When sending an email with sensitive information, you can use encryption. Email encryption refers to plain text being converted into scrambled cipher text. The email can then only be read by the recipient that has the private key that will be used to decode the email.
Email encryption architecture
Email encryption solutions do not typically follow a standard architecture but rely on gateway software that enables the enforcement of policy-based encryption. This enables organizations to implement policies that define which emails need to be encrypted and in what circ*mstances messages should be encrypted. For example, organizations will typically specify that any email message containingpersonally identifiable information (PII), financial data, or other sensitive information sent by any user be encrypted.
Some email encryption software will be in the form of a client installed on users’ computers, laptops, or mobile devices. This service can use policy-based encryption to protect specific email messages or enable users to choose which emails to encrypt, or a combination of both. Other email encryption solutions may focus on protecting the device rather than the email gateway, which targets potential security threats on local networks.
But there is increasingly no requirement for users to install email encryption services on their devices. Instead, they can now access web-based interfaces that decrypt and read encrypted messages. These email encryption solutions will either be hosted privately by the organization or, increasingly frequently, a cloud-based service through an email encryption software vendor.
Methods of Email Encryption
In addition to using S/MIME and TLS to encrypt email, you can also take advantage of encrypted PDFs and web portal encryption.
Encrypted PDF
With an encrypted PDF, zip, or Office file, you provide users with secure documents and attachments that they can download to their computer.
What does email encryption do in this context? It prevents anyone from intercepting and using the information in the email—all they would get would be an unintelligible jumble of characters. This means all attachments and documents reach their destinations intact and can be read on any device. Also, because the user downloads the attachment, it can be viewed later even when they are offline.
Web portal encryption
With web portal encryption, the recipient has to access a web page to read the email. This fits the email encryption definition because the email is secured by a shared key before it goes to the web portal. The encrypted email goes straight from the user’s email client—such as Outlook, Mailbird, etc.—to the web portal. In this way, only someone with the website’s login credentials can read the email.
This kind of secure email encryption service shrinks your attack surface by limiting the number of people who can access your company’s emails. As long as the recipient’s password is secure, web portal encryption is an effective way to prevent hackers from getting their hands on sensitive information sent over the internet.
