Email as plain text is very easy to intercept and read. It is plain text. Anything that you would not want printed on the from page on the newspaper should not be communicated in plain text email. If you would not shout thgough a magapahone on you from porch, don't send it in plain text email.
So, what is the solution?
Encryption.
Encryption is not complete privacy. There is no such thing. Any encryption can be broken. It is just a matter of time. 1000 years from now will you care if someone reads your confidential email? Probably not.
You can use encryption with your emails to greatly slow down any would-be email eavesdropper.
Software currently available and freely distributed will do the job just as good, and even better in many cases, than commercial security products.
Here is how you do it:
- Download the GnuPG (GNU Privacy Guard) encryption software.
(Due to the legislation put in place by the overprotective, paranoid criminals in the United States Government you may not be allowed to export this software from the United States. Here is a guide to the US laws on import/export of cryptography: http://rechten.uvt.nl/koops/cryptolaw/cls2.htm#us)- This can be downloaded here: ftp://ftp.gnupg.org/gcrypt/binary/gnupg-w32cli-1.2.4.zip if you are using MS Windows.
- If you are using a different OS, you should visit the GnuPG download page and contact my if you have trouble.
- (MS Windows users)This zip file should be extracted to a directory of your choosing. (I'd recommend "C:\Program Files\GnuPG\")
(Sorry, this is not yet complete. I am having trouble making this work under Windows 2K/XP Active directory with certain Group Policies. I wnat this worked out completely for corporate users.)
Last updated: 2008-08-20 13:27:12.