January 14, 2009

Secure Your Email!!

2009 is here, ready or not. With a new year, expect new technology. With new technology, expect new security threats. It’s inevitable. No matter how hard you try to protect and secure your data at home or at work, some 15 year-old in Iowa will figure out a way to beat the system. While I can’t prevent hackers from stealing your data, I CAN give you some advice to better protect your data.

At the workplace, don't send critical files via email. Ask your IT staff if they can set up a secure FTP site. FTP is a fast, easy, and secure way to transmit files to your staff and clients. Most people at home don't have the luxury of FTP so they resort to email as the primary means of sending files.

If email is your only option for sending files, use encryption to protect your attachments. Here are few programs that will encrypt/password protect your email attachments.

1. WINZIP— Use WinZip to compress and password protect the files you attach to emails. You can purchase and download WinZip at www.winzip.com.

2. PGP— Is much more secure than WinZip. PGP is a very effective way to send secure files via email. Using encryption technology, PGP only allows the intended recipient of the email to open the attachment which make it an ideal solution very very critical files sent at the workplace.
To learn more about PGP, go to www.pgp.com.

3. GPG - Is a FREE alternative to PGP, but has a little bit of a learning curve. You can't beat the price, though. Check it out at www.gnupg.org.

I can't stress enough how important it is to secure your data. Sending files with critical information through email in an “unprotected state” is very dangerous. Don't wait until your data is compromised before you decide to take action. I've seen first-hand what can happen when important emails are intercepted and the consequences can be dire.

TK

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Voltage also offers a file, document and email encryption solution through the VSN. It's easy to use and can encrypt files in any format. And if you're securing emails, it couldn't be easier. No looking up keys and you can send to anyone--they don't need any software to view. Check out the free trial at http://www.voltage.com/vsn/freetrial.htm