What is Encrypted Email?

Email encryption is one of those topics that gets very complicated very quickly. Pretty soon, most explanations end up using a bevy of complicated words and terms that may as well be another language. It doesn’t have to be this way, however, because the benefits of using encrypted email are simple, and the core concepts of email encryption can be easy to understand as well. Today, we decided to break down email encryption to its basics so you can learn what email encryption is and why it’s important for your business, without all the technical mumbo jumbo.

1. What is Email Encryption?

Email encryption is a way to protect your emails from being read by other people or computers. Essentially, what it does is scrambles an email heading out from your computer and reassembles it for the intended person. And when you receive an email, it scrambles it and puts it back together again before you read it, reducing the chances of any of the information getting into the wrong hands. By using encrypted email, the only people who will see an email is the sender and its intended recipients.

2. Why Do People & Companies Use Encrypted Email

Like most technological services, email encryption is used for a number of reasons. The overarching reasons, however, boil down to security and privacy. In general, companies use email encryption to meet security protocols. Since sensitive information is often sent through email, it is important for businesses to keep that information as protected as possible.

Privacy is the other major reason, and this is often why individuals will use email encryption for their own private email accounts. Since the online experience increasingly uses software to track the movements of people online, emails are becoming easier and easier to break into or spy on. With email encryption, those emails can travel more safely and can better maintain their privacy.

3. Do I Need Email Encryption?

Generally, email encryption is recommended for two reasons: because your email always has sensitive information, and because you should be compliant with security protocols.

First off, your email account has private information. Everything from emails about resetting passwords to notices from you bank include information that could compromise your confidentiality. So even when you think your email is mostly for confirming appointments and seeing who’s having a sale this week, they are actually loaded with stuff you want to keep to yourself.

Secondly, if you run a business that has clients, you should be taking steps to ensure any information sent between your two parties is confidential. This includes using encrypted email to help keep things secure.

Encrypted email is absolutely essential in the modern business world, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be complicated. The technology itself may be quite fascinating, but the benefits are immediate: with encrypted email, you will be safer, your company’s information will be safer, and you will enjoy a level of privacy previously unavailable through unencrypted email. Don’t take chances when it comes to email encryption, contact Securence today to see what we have to offer.