How to encrypt email? Email encryption is the process of scrambling and disguising the contents of an email so that only the intended recipient can read it. It is a way to protect your emails from being intercepted by people who might want to steal sensitive information, such as passwords or personal details. It is also useful if your employer wants to see all of your emails and you want them to be private.

Key Takeaways

Email encryption protects sensitive information from unauthorized access, ensuring that only the intended recipient can read the message.
The encryption process involves scrambling the email, while decryption allows the recipient to access the original message.
Different email encryption methods, such as S/MIME and PGP, provide varying levels of security and are suited for different use cases.
Transport Layer Security (TLS) encrypts communication between servers, safeguarding emails from interception during transit.
Email encryption and email authentication serve distinct but complementary purposes, enhancing overall email security when used together.

What is email encryption?

Encryption is the process of encoding a message in such a way that only authorized users to have the ability to read it. The goal of email encryption is to make sure that your emails are safe from prying eyes and can only be read by those you trust.

Email encryption is important because it protects your personal information and helps prevent your email address from being abused. If someone wants to steal your personal information or harass you, they can use an email address like yours without worrying about getting caught.

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The process of email encryption

When you send an email message, it goes through multiple steps in order to ensure that only the intended recipient can read it. The first step is called “encryption,” and it scrambles your message so that only someone who has access to the right key can decrypt it.

The second step is called “decryption,” and it allows recipients to retrieve their original messages without having to go through encryption steps first—they just need to know where their keys are stored so they can retrieve their own messages from there.

How to encrypt email: The various types of email encryption

1. S/MIME email encryption

S/MIME stands for Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. It’s a way of encrypting a message so that only the intended recipient can get it. It’s useful for sensitive data like credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and bank account info.

This process involves two parts: one part where the message is encrypted and another part where it is decrypted. The encryption happens before the recipient receives it; then they decrypt it before reading it. This keeps them from seeing any private data or information that might be included in your email.

You can send encrypted emails using any of your favorite email clients—including Gmail and Outlook—or by using apps like Thunderbird or Apple Mail if you have an iPhone or iPad.

2. PGP email encryption

PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) — This is a kind of public-key encryption used by activists and journalists who have something to hide from governments and corporate interests that might want to intercept their messages or other digital communications.

It’s also used by corporations as an alternative to commercial software solutions like Symantec’s Norton Secure Web Gateway (NSGW) product line. PGP works by creating a digital signature on each message that requires both parties’ public keys before they’re exchanged over the Internet.

It was developed by Philip R. Zimmermann in 1991. It’s a method for encrypting messages and files with a public key. Using this encryption method, any message can only be read by someone who has access to your public key and who knows the secret passphrase that unlocks that key pair. That makes it extremely secure—even if someone cracks your private key, they won’t be able to read any of your messages.

3. Transport Layer Security (TLS)

Transport Layer Security, or TLS, is a protocol used to encrypt communications between a client and a server. It’s also used when you connect to a website using HTTPS.

What does this mean for email encryption? When you’re sending an email, the transport layer security protects your message from being read by anyone who intercepts it as it travels through the internet. This helps protect your messages from getting intercepted by hackers or surveillance agencies.

But what if someone steals your phone or computer? The transport layer security would still protect your emails while they’re in transit—it’s just that there wouldn’t be any way to read them unless they had access to both ends of the conversation.

Now it is important to note that TLS encryption in SMTP is opportunistic to make it backward compatible. MTA-STS is an excellent mechanism to enforce TLS encryption. It ensures emails are not delivered if an encrypted connection cannot be established between two communicating SMTP servers. This helps you make sure your business emails (which often contain sensitive company information) are encrypted in transit and cannot be intercepted by man-in-the-middle attackers.

Email Encryption Vs Email Authentication

Email encryption and email authentication are two different ways to ensure that the emails you send are secure. Email encryption is the process of encoding a message so that it cannot be read by anyone who does not have the key. Email authentication is verifying that the message came from a legitimate sender, not from an attacker who has obtained your password.

Definitions

Email Encryption: The process of encoding information into a format that is not readable by anyone except those who have access to a key or password (typically usernames and passwords). Email encryption services are also called end-to-end encryption services because they encrypt all messages in transit between sender and receiver so that only those with access to their respective keys can decrypt them.

Email Authentication: The process of verifying a sender’s identity based on information provided by both sender and receiver using specific algorithms or protocols. Once verified, it can be used as evidence in court cases where fraud and other crimes are committed using email addresses

The key difference between these two methods is that email encryption requires you to use a specific application or tool, whereas email authentication does not. It’s important to note that these technologies are not mutually exclusive—they can be used together as part of a comprehensive security solution.

To enable email authentication at your organization there is no better place to start than with a DMARC analyzer. It will help you automate your implementation, prevent manual errors and provide an added layer of security on top of your existing email encryption measures.

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Ahona Rudra

Domain & Email Security Expert at PowerDMARC

Ahona is the Marketing Manager at PowerDMARC, with 5+ years of experience in writing about cybersecurity topics, specializing in domain and email security. Ahona holds a post-graduation degree in Journalism and Communications, solidifying her career in the security sector since 2019.

How to encrypt email?