The Security Benefits of Encrypted Email

There are numerous benefits to using an encrypted email service as your primary email provider.

Ever since email was first used in the 1960s and 1970s, computer scientists and mathematicians have proposed numerous methods for adding encryption and safeguarding email content from unwanted third parties.Every email user - from Fortune 500 Companies to individuals - has valuable and sensitive data contained within their inbox. Email encryption is a critical and necessary solution for those users and organizations who want to protect their data while continuously seamlessly with other parties.Furthermore, organizations that use various email encryption techniques gain needed competitive advantages over those that do not. For example, as companies work across borders, timezones, and nation states, email encryption ensures that trade secrets and sensitive data, like client information or financial records, are protected and secure at all times, even across different network providers and internet providers.

Why should we encrypt our emails?

At its most basic technical level, email encryption works using a cryptography where one party generates a public key and a private key. Public key encryption, also known as asymmetric key encryption, is a type of encryption that uses these two different keys - a public key and a private key - to send data securely to another party. While the public key can be shared with anyone and is not considered sensitive information, the private key must be kept secret. When data is encrypted with the public key, it can only be decrypted with the private key. As a result, it is impossible for someone who does not have the private key to decrypt data, even if they have the public key.This technique is clearly accessible to the email encryption paradigm, as an individual or organization’s public key can be shared widely and used to encrypt email content. Then, once encrypted, only the private key holder can decrypt and view sensitive data.Unsurprisingly, malicious actors, such as cyber criminals and hackers, typically target and attack unencrypted emails. This sort of attack is impossible when you are using encrypted email as the email content is completely obscured.

Security Benefits of Encrypted Email

Beyond simple email encryption, end-to-end encryption ensures that no one else, not even an email service provider, can access your email content, subject, or other information.End-to-end encrypted email providers, such as Skiff.com, offer a number of security benefits for protecting sensitive data. We will discuss some of these benefits below:1. Protection of Sensitive InformationFrom financial records and intellectual property, to company transactions and trade secrets, encrypted email ensures that your data is secure and safe from exploitation.2. Security from Business risksIf your company operates in an industry that requires sensitive client data handling, such as companies in the finance, legal, and health sectors, keeping your emails encrypted is a necessity. Email encryption not only protects your clients data, but also protects your firm from lawsuits, fines, and the reputational damage that a breach of your emails could cause.Hackers and cybercriminals are coming up with increasingly sophisticated ways to intercept and decode corporate sensitive information. Generally, it should be assumed that malicious parties can easily access unencrypted emails and steal information transmitted without encryption through networks. Email encryption is an efficient and easily implemented solution to this.3. End message replay possibilitiesOn a similarly damaging level, unencrypted emails or messages can be altered and modified by malicious parties after they are sent. Malicious parties could save, share, or even re-send these emails later, possibly containing a virus. These malicious emails could subsequently infect colleagues’ computers, friends’ inboxes, or - in the worst possible scenario - client network infrastructure. All parties sensitive and personal data could be compromised.Email encryption helps prevent these attacks with built-in timestamps and using random session keys. Encrypted email providers, such as Skiff, may also allow you to add one-time passwords, which are discarded after use.4. Protection from identity theftIdentity theft involves a malicious party stealing sensitive information to take control of your legal identity. This party may then use your identity to commit scams or financial fraud. When attackers compromise your emails, they are frequently able to gather enough personal information to commit identify theft and possibly steal your money, assets, or other valuables.Identity theft is yet another reason why you and your business should opt for an encrypted email provider.5. Multi-factor AuthenticationAdding additional authentication to emails can help distinguish between real legitimate emails versus spam or phishing emails.Email authentication uses digital signatures to protect confidential data; these signatures are unique and come with specific codes for different users. Most encrypted email providers will have multi-factor authentication as an additional feature, either on user accounts or on individual messages.

Conclusion

Email encryption protects your data by ensuring that no additional parties can access, exploit, or abuse critical information. From preventing identity theft to securing your data from network monitoring, email encryption is an absolute must today.Email encryption keeps your data safe and protects sensitive and valuable information from cyber-criminals. Beyond simply safeguarding your data, email encryption also protects you and your contacts from identity theft and other malicious activities.If you want to protect your business from these critical risks, Skiff.com can help. We provide email, document, and file encryption products that keep your email and company’s data end-to-end encrypted and private only to you.