Anyone trying to intercept the file along the way, however, will be stuck with the unreadable data, instead of a photo or other sensitive document. The intended recipient can then save and open the file-provided they can decrypt it. When the recipient clicks on the attachment, the encryption server checks to make sure you’ve given that person permission to access it. When you send an attachment that is encrypted end-to-end, the file is converted into a format that is unreadable without a digital key. This security protects your emails from point-to-point, so no matter where those emails end up, they’re still secure. The next level of protection is end-to-end encryption. However, TLS doesn’t provide complete security: emails outside the server or individual attachments aren’t protected. Most major email providers have TLS encryption baked in, which protects your emails in transit or within the provider’s servers. There are a few different ways to encrypt emails, starting from the broad network-level protection called TLS (transport layer security). Want to have complete control over your attachments? Our quick-start guide below explains how to ensure your email attachments remain private and secure using encryption and Persistent File Protection.

Likewise, even if your recipient deletes the attachment after they’ve downloaded it, there’s no guarantee that the file won’t be sitting on a mail server somewhere. Without file-specific protection, tax documents, business spreadsheets and even personal photos can be stolen if your message is hijacked on the way to its destination.

Here’s the crucial point: typical email encryption services don’t actually encrypt your attachments-so they might not be as safe as you think. However, the most sensitive info in an email is often stored in the attachment, not the message itself. Whether you’re sending a confidential message to your employees or a personal note to your spouse, it’s natural to want your emails to stay private.

Encrypting emails in outlook