Email encryption is like sending a coded message that only those who know the code can read. Public key encryption is the most common form, offering complete security when both parties use it. Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is a popular version.
Email encryption is one way to secure your electronic communications. It’s like sending a coded message. Only those who know the code can read what is written in the e-mail. This allows you to send private information via email without fear that an unwanted person will read it.
Email has become a common way of communicating. People use it for everything from keeping in touch with friends to closing deals. Email encryption helps keep those conversations private.
Sending an unencrypted email is like sending someone a message on the bulletin board in the office. The intended recipient can see it, but so can everyone else in the office looking at the whiteboard. When email encryption is used to secure a message, it is as if the message had been placed in an envelope and dropped into someone’s mailbox. An unintentional person could still read it, but it would be more difficult for that person to access.
One of the most common forms of email encryption is public key encryption. This system uses two keys, a public key and a private key. The sender is the only one who has the private key. The sender can provide the public key to anyone who can send an email. A public key can also be released openly so that anyone, even complete strangers, can use it to send an email to the person whose key it is.
When someone wants to send that person an email message, they can encrypt it using the public key. This way, it can be decrypted using the private key. Anyone who didn’t have the key would see the email as a meaningless string of numbers. The public key encryption system only offers complete security coverage when both parties in the conversation are using it.
A common version of this type of email encryption is called Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). It is used by many email service providers. The system was created by Phil Zimmerman in 1991.
When you send an email using PGP, the email is compressed first. The system then creates a one-time use secret key called a session key. This key is used to encrypt the email. The session key is then encrypted using the recipient’s public key. When the recipient receives the email, their copy of PGP decrypts the session key and uses it to decrypt the email.
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