Email Security

Would you send an email telling a friend where you hide your extra house key? Maybe.

But what if I were to tell you that con dential information could be read by the guy sitting two tables from you at Starbucks? Or what if that email popped up on your friend’s phone and a co-worker could read it over their shoulder? Maybe you’d think twice about letting the world know how to get into your house.

If you were to read most of my email (and texts), you’d discover that there’s not a lot I’m trying to hide. Some of my recent outgoing messages included such tantalizing subjects as what I wanted for dinner or if I needed to pick up a gallon of milk on the way home.

But there are some emails I don’t want people to see. Like the lab results from my recent medical check-up or the on-line application I sent a car dealer to re nance my car loan. Both of these emails have personal information I only want the intended receiver to be able to access. For those emails, I need some type of encryption.

Most people don’t understand the shadowy world of encryption. It sounds like something out of an old spy movie starring David Niven. You know, the kind where the spy carries around the key to decipher secret mes- sages in a hidden compartment in their shoe.