If you are sending out a confidential email and are scared of its content getting tampered with in transit, then you should learn how to encrypt an email in Outlook.
As of 2023, the global email encryption market size is USD 6.2 billion, which is substantial.
Owing to the adoption and expansion of the work-from-home trend after COVID-19 and a rising tide of BEC frauds and phishing scams, companies have become obligated to learn how to encrypt emails in Outlook and other platforms.
Advancements have been made on the regulatory front as well; many governments and regulatory compliances have laid down rules for email security, and needless to say, email encryption is one of the highlighted factors.
Since these rules can't be bent, and we are not expecting cybercriminals to practice sainthood, it's better we start gauging our email security measures.
Let's begin by understanding how to encrypt emails in Outlook.
Email encryption in Outlook is the translation of a message from readable plain text into an undeciphered format that is incomprehensible for hackers and other unauthorized people.
Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions or S/MIME is an encryption protocol that shields your emails against prevalent cyberattacks like phishing, email spoofing, and more.
This method is exclusively available only for users with an Office 365 email account and allows them to dispatch encrypted messages to the desired recipients, irrespective of their email service provider.
To begin with S/MIME-based email encryption, users have to ensure that both the sender and the desired recipient are on the same mail application and have a valid S/MIME certificate installed in their Outlook.
Take your cursor towards the left pane, choose 'Email Security,' and select 'Settings' under the 'Encrypt Email' option.
That's it; now you are all set to send encrypted emails in Outlook using the S/MIME method.
Since you have to take care of installing and configuring certificates in the first method, it's suggested that you learn how to encrypt emails in Outlook using the Office 365 Message Encryption method.
CXOs and employees of a company exchange many emails daily.
GDPR, a comprehensive data privacy regulation drafted by the European Union, also strongly recommends email encryption.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in the United States mandates the use of email encryption for transmitting electronic protected health information to ensure patient privacy and data security.
Failing to encrypt emails can result in legal consequences in industries where regulations require the protection of certain types of data.
While learning how to encrypt email in Outlook is not as complex as it sounds, automating your implementation to prevent human errors is the key to a sound security posture.
PowerDMARC's DMARC Analyzer compliments other security and encryption methods by automating you email authentication journey.
With PowerDMARC, you can now rest easy knowing that your emails are sent securely and without the risk of any unauthorized individual tampering with them.
This Cyber News was published on securityboulevard.com. Publication date: Thu, 21 Dec 2023 11:43:04 +0000