Email is the most efficient and cost-effective method of sharing information. It’s an excellent alternative to traffic jams and postal delays. It can be used to avoid busy telephone lines, fax machines and interruptions to the fax machine. However, when it comes to exchanging confidential documents convenience of email conceals many inherent dangers. When your personal information goes off your server, there’s no way to determine where it goes or who has access to it. Even if encryption is enabled on your emails, which adds an extra layer to security, it may not be enough protection to protect you from man-in-the-middle attack.
Documents for customers typically contain confidential information that can be used by cybercriminals to commit identity theft or other criminal activities. Cyberattacks on email servers could also lead to the loss or theft of files.
It’s possible to send confidential information securely via email if you follow some best practices and have an NDA in place. Email security can be improved by restricting the number of identifiable items within a message. Making sure your files are password-protected and adding a confidentiality declaration to your signature Learn More automatically are also simple steps.
Email providers like Gmail or Outlook provide S/MIME encryption to offer a greater level of security. This allows users to sign digitally emails and attachments. This guarantees the integrity of the document, and also protects it from “man-in-the middle” attacks. This option requires a verified certificate is installed on the computer of the recipient, which could add another layer of security.