Fear of Secure Email

This Article typifies the feelings of many when it comes to email.

Outside of fictional characters in Cryptonomicon, I’m not aware of anyone else using encrypted email and digital signatures. (Anyone using cryptographic e-mail is in the minority and the exception to the rule.)
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I don’t have the time, patience or desire to venture down the path of buying certificates and keys and configuring them on all six of the machines I work from on any given day. This is a non-starter. No one uses this feature. Thus, my point: Email is not secure.

Secure email does not have to be hard, and it does not have to be scary. It starts with protecting your SMTP, POP, and IMAP connections by running them over SSL. Many organizations we work with have their own PKI—using digitally signed and encrypted email with a managed PKI in place is very easy. Others utilize PGP or equivalent technologies. At Gemini, we encrypt all email sent internally using S/MIME.

I agree that people should be aware of the potential insecurities around email—most people consider that email is inherently secure and is sent directly from the sender to the recipient. (Neither is true.) I don’t agree that we need to be afraid of implementing solutions. One does not have to be a fictional character to take privacy seriously enough to make email more secure.