SECURE MESSAGES AND MAIL
Encrypt your email and chat to keep conversations private
One of the most insecure forms of communication on the internet is good old email. By default, all messages are sent in plain text, which makes intercepting them a breeze. It means sharing sensitive data via email is a no-no unless you – and your email correspondent – are willing to take extra precautions by encrypting your email messages.
The easiest way to do this is to both sign up for a dedicated email account with the likes of ProtonMail (protonmail.com), which provides encrypted email as standard between ProtonMail users. The step-by-step guide reveals the more complicated process required to generate an encryption certificate and key to scramble your emails using Mail – but it’s a one-time job, and can also be used to digitally sign your messages to prove your identity.
Once set up, open Mail, select your account and click the compose (pen and paper) button – you should see a blue tick appear next to the subject line. This is your digital stamp of authenticity that allows your recipients to confirm the email they’ve received from your address has come from you – note, you willl be prompted for your account password each time you use it in a new conversation.
Encrypt emails
If you want to encrypt mails with a friend, they’ll need to generate their own S/MIME certificate and attach it to their account via their own email program. Once done, one of you needs to send the other a digitally signed message. Once they’ve received your message, they can reply with their own signature, and click the lock button to encrypt the message. Job done.
Note: S/MIME certificates will expire after a set time (12 months in the case of Actalis) and can’t be renewed. Leave the expired certificates in place so you can read older emails, then simply create a new one, which you’ll need to
send again to all your correspondents.
Secure chat
Can you trust your current messaging app to keep your chats private and secure? If in doubt, follow our lead and switch to Signal (signal.org). It’s designed so its end-toend encryption puts your messages beyond Signal’s (or anyone else’s) reach. It’s fully open-source, so completely free and transparent, and once connected via mobile number to a contact, you can confirm each other’s identity using its unique safety number system to ensure you’re always chatting to who you think you are.
And don’t worry, switching to Signal isn’t a trade-off between security and functionality – it works across all your major mobile and desktop devices, plus supports audio and one-to-one video calls, and now group video too. Since the WhatsApp privacy furore, more and more people are switching to Signal. You should too.