With personal information now a commodity, even if you aren’t a celebrity or work for the government, there is still a case for email encryption, even if it’s to make you feel more secure.
It’s easy to sit back and think that all the security scares are just security consultants hyping everything up to look worse than they are. While it is often the case, either that or scaremongering, there is a case for protecting yourself as much as possible, including email.
You wouldn’t send personal information to someone on the back o a postcard for everyone to see, so why is sending it over email any different? If you have the right skills, reading other peoples email is a simple thing to achieve. Considering how much we depend on it, and what we use it for, not protecting it seems foolish.
Using email encryption isn’t something the government wants you to do as it makes snooping on your more difficult, however protecting yourself and your personal information is more important than that. Despite moves to the contrary, it is still currently perfectly legal to encrypt any and all communications you make. For as long as that is the case, everybody should encrypt their email.
It isn’t as difficult to do as you may imagine either. Companies like Thawte and Comodo offer free personal digital certificates to use in conjunction with your mail to encrypt the messages and to prove that messages you send are really from you. They are free and made available to you in a couple of minutes. You just have to give the company your name email address and a password and they will provide you with a certificate which you can use with your favorite email client.
The certificate works by digitally signing your email, which the recipients can see. They also encrypt the email by using keys. You have a private key, which only you know, and you provide public keys for the email recipients so they can decrypt the mail. That way every one of your mails is protected from all but the most determined hacker.
If you choose to use this method of email encryption, ensure that all email is protected. Only encrypting the important mails will tell any hackers exactly what email to concentrate their efforts on. Encrypting them all will have them working hard to crack even the most mundane mails, which is sure to drive them off.
Email encryption is free, and easy to configure. Digital certificates work with most email clients, and you don’t have to only send important emails to warrant using one. Protecting yourself, and your personal information is as important as locking your car when you leave it or securing your home when you go away. It should become second nature, and you should make every effort to secure yourself as well as your property.