Email Encryption is a must

Email Encryption is a must - 30 November 2011

I don't know whether anyone else has noticed but there are an increasing number of stories in the press about companies and organisations falling foul of the information commissioner's office for failing to encrypt personal data?

I have a pet hate of receiving documents from well-known companies by un-encrypted email to my home email address. For example, my car insurance and holiday insurance documents now come via email - great news it keeps the costs down for them (and presumably me) but bad news too in that all my personal data is flying around the internet totally unencrypted. Even where the PDF is encrypted I believe that can be broken in minutes.

In a work scenario – how many spread sheets are emailed around to colleagues and external partners in an unencrypted format? Again, these often contain confidential business information including cash flows and forecasts.

Just like there are thieves ready to raid your bins to steal your identity, the same I’m sure is true online. However, the scary part is that this crime is often undetected, you just know it’s happening because somehow someone has managed to get hold of your details and tried to purchase some expensive merchandise.