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In this article we will discuss about how To Send Encrypted Email in Gmail and Outlook. Email was one of the first ways to talk on the internet, and if you’re reading this, you almost certainly have at least one email address. Some people say that email will die out in the future, but for now it’s still one of the most common ways to talk to other people.
This key part of electronic communication isn’t very private, which is one of its biggest flaws. Most email providers don’t give you a way to encrypt messages or attachments by default. This makes it easy for hackers, snoops, and thieves to steal from people who use email.
So you want to start making your email more secure? Well, let’s start by saying that it’s not easy to set up email encryption on your own. Not only does the sender need to know how to encrypt an email, but the person who gets it also needs to know how to decrypt it.
How To Send Encrypted Email in Gmail
Good news for Gmail users: Google automatically encrypts all emails in transit with Transport Layer Security (TLS), which is the standard way to do this kind of encryption. TLS is a set of cryptographic protocols that protects communications over a computer network.
This means that unauthorized third parties can’t read your email when you’re on the same network, like the Wi-Fi at your favorite coffee shop. TLS can be thought of as a magical envelope for sending messages. Even if this envelope is stolen, no one will be able to read your email unless they know how to open it.
Gmail supports both TLS and S/MIME. S/MIME is a more advanced encryption standard that encrypts the message itself instead of just putting it in an encrypted envelope. S/MIME is only available with G Suite Enterprise, G Suite for Education, and G Suite Enterprise for Education, and both the sender and the recipient must have it turned on for it to work.
- Log in to your Google Admin console.
- Go to Apps → G Suite → Gmail → User settings.
- Select the domain or organization you want to configure.
- Check the Enable S/MIME encryption for sending and receiving emails box.
- Click Save.
How To Send Encrypted Email in Outlook
Like Gmail, Outlook.com protects the connection with the recipient’s mail service provider by using TLS encryption. The problem with TLS is that it only protects messages while they’re in transit. It doesn’t guarantee that they’ll stay encrypted once they reach the recipient’s service provider.
Microsoft built its own email encryption system for Outlook. This system makes sure that your messages are always encrypted and never leave Microsoft’s servers. Office 365 Home or Office 365 Personal users can encrypt their Outlook emails, and it couldn’t be easier to do so.
- Log in to your Outlook.com account.
- Click the blue New message button in the top-left corner.
- Select the encryption option from the ribbon.
- Click Encrypt or Encrypt & Prevent Forwarding (the latter makes it impossible for your message to be copied or forwarded).
- Compose your message and click Send.
Emails that are encrypted can be read on Outlook.com just like any other email. The users of third-party mail services receive a message with instructions for how to read the encrypted message.
What is Email Encryption?
Encrypting an email means changing the plain text into something that only the person who is supposed to get it can figure out. This is done with the help of cryptography. A Public key is used to encrypt the email, and only the Private key, which is only known to the intended recipient, can decrypt it. Only when the two keys match does the encrypted data get decrypted and turned back into plain text, which the recipient can then read.