{"id":3066,"date":"2022-10-19T13:59:12","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T13:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/?p=3066"},"modified":"2022-10-19T14:00:09","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T14:00:09","slug":"is-email-encrypted-how-you-can-tell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/is-email-encrypted-how-you-can-tell\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Email Encrypted? Sometimes\u2026 Here\u2019s How You Can Tell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Although encryption is the go-to standard for Internet data security, not all service providers offer email encryption as an option. Here\u2019s what to know about email encryption and how to tell whether an email is encrypted<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/what-is-encryption-and-how-does-it-work\/\">Encryption<\/a> is an essential component of internet and email security. In part, it\u2019s what helps protect your communications against unauthorized users and their nefarious purposes by scrambling data into an unreadable format. This way, only an authorized individual (i.e., someone with a secret key) can read your emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve talked previously about <a href=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/how-to-send-documents-securely-via-email\/\">how you can send documents securely via email<\/a> using an email signing certificate (S\/MIME certificate). In this scenario, an email client uses public key cryptography to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Secure the message content and attachments (i.e., secure data at rest) using an S\/MIME certificate<\/li><li>Send messages via a secure communication channel (i.e., secure data in transit) using transport layer security (TLS) encryption<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, it\u2019s time to explore whether all emails are encrypted and how you can identify encrypted messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is Email Encrypted? Not Always\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In general, messages transmit via the simple mail transport protocol, or what\u2019s known as SMTP. This is an insecure transfer protocol, meaning that data can be intercepted in transit. To make the connection more secure, it requires enabling TLS to add another layer of security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, emails <em>can<\/em> be encrypted, but that doesn\u2019t mean that all emails you send or receive are encrypted. This is because not all email providers support TLS; thankfully, the big ones (Gmail, Yahoo, Apple Mail, etc.) do. And this is good news because many industry regulations (HIPAA, PCI DSS, etc.) require the use of encryption to protect sensitive data. Unfortunately, some email providers opt to use SMTP on its own, which is open to man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks (i.e., in-transit data interception attacks).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is bad news all around. Sending data unencrypted is akin to sending your message on a postcard because the data is open to being intercepted a read by virtually anyone. This means that when you send your message, it transmits in plaintext (i.e., a readable format) instead of in a string of random characters and letters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"982\" height=\"650\" src=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/unencrypted-email-is-like-a-postcard-shadow.png\" alt=\"A graphic illustrating the concept of how sending an unencrypted message is like sending a postcard: virtually anyone who comes across the postcard can read the message because it's openly available\" class=\"wp-image-3067\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/unencrypted-email-is-like-a-postcard-shadow.png 982w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/unencrypted-email-is-like-a-postcard-shadow-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/unencrypted-email-is-like-a-postcard-shadow-560x371.png 560w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/unencrypted-email-is-like-a-postcard-shadow-940x622.png 940w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 982px) 100vw, 982px\" \/><figcaption><em>Image caption: Sending an unencrypted email is like writing a secret message on the back of a postcard. An attacker can intercept the communication and read its plaintext contents.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>But if the message is encrypted, such as by pairing STMP with the <a href=\"https:\/\/security.googleblog.com\/2019\/04\/gmail-making-email-more-secure-with-mta.html\">mail transfer agent strict transport security (MTA-STS)<\/a> or TLS, the attacker won\u2019t be able to read the contents. When someone who doesn\u2019t have access to the key tries to read the message, it would look like this to them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"885\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypted-email-cant-see-message-contents-shadow.png\" alt=\"A graphic illustrating the concept of how sending an encrypted message is more secure because it takes that readable text and converts it into something incomprehensible if you don't have the right key to decrypt it. This helps to ensure that only the intended recipient can read the message.\" class=\"wp-image-3068\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypted-email-cant-see-message-contents-shadow.png 885w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypted-email-cant-see-message-contents-shadow-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypted-email-cant-see-message-contents-shadow-560x371.png 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 885px) 100vw, 885px\" \/><figcaption><em>Image caption: A example of what it looks like when you send an encrypted email. An attacker can see that a message was sent but can\u2019t read any of the message\u2019s contents.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3 Types of Email Encryption<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There are three main types of encryption that can be used to secure email communications worth mentioning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Transport layer security (TLS)<\/strong> \u2014 This secure protocol protects your data in transit by encrypting the communication channel you use to send the data. This is often added to SMTP to make the latter more secure and prevent MitM attacks.<\/li><li><strong>Secure\/Multipurpose internet mail extension (S\/MIME) certificate<\/strong> \u2014 This requires the use of an <a href=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/secure-email-document-signing\">email signing certificate<\/a> (which is issued by a trusted public <a href=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/what-is-a-certificate-authority-certification-authorities-explained\/\">certificate authority<\/a> like Sectigo) and secures the message itself by encrypting the email\u2019s contents and attachments.<\/li><li><strong>Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)<\/strong> \u2014 This decentralized form of encryption aims to protect data at rest. It also requires a third-party tool and you have to create a code (which may or may not be secure).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Often, people will use S\/MIME encryption in combination with TLS to create end-to-end encryption. This means that the email and the channel it transmits through are secured via public key encryption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Imagine that you work in the IT department at a local hospital: you want to ensure that any data transmitted by your employees is as secure as possible. Your best bet is to instruct them to avoid sending sensitive information via email. However, seeing as how email is a common communication tool nowadays, it\u2019s likely that some sensitive information will need to be emailed. In this case, you\u2019ll need to ensure that it\u2019s encrypted first to prevent prying eyes from seeing your sensitive data. We\u2019ll quickly walk you through how to do that later in the article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Email Encryption Does<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Email encryption involves applying a public (known) cryptographic key to data that you want to keep secret to make it unreadable. This involves applying complex math to that data that turns your readable message into a string of gibberish. Now, it\u2019s important to note that every public key is created with a corresponding private key; together, they form a public-private key pair. So, when a message is encrypted, it means that it can only be decrypted using the corresponding private key. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, we\u2019re not going to dive into the nitty-gritty of how encryption works in this article. But the important takeaway here is that it helps to secure your sensitive data against access by unauthorized users by using public key cryptography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Both Parties Have to Support Encryption to Use It<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Email encryption isn\u2019t something that can facilitated on one end; it has to be supported by both the sender and recipient\u2019s email clients and servers. <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/a\/answer\/2520500?hl=en\">If only one party supports encryption<\/a>, then a secure connection can\u2019t be established; this means the message can still be sent via SMTP but it\u2019ll be insecure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In general, email is encrypted if the sending and receiving email service providers both support transport layer security (TLS). This enables you to secure data in transit (i.e., when it moves from one party to the other).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In order for emails to be encrypted <em>before<\/em> being sent \u2014 meaning that they\u2019re still unreadable to unauthorized users once they\u2019re sitting on the recipient\u2019s email server \u2014 both parties must:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Use the same email encryption service (such as ProtonMail) or integrate a third-party tool for PGP, or<\/li><li>Use email signing certificates (S\/MIME certificates). This is because the sender would need to use the recipient\u2019s public key to encrypt the message before sending it so only the recipient has the private key that decrypts it.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Do You Know Whether an Email Is Encrypted?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Alright, now that we know what encryption is and what it does, let\u2019s look at how you can identify encrypted email messages. The most obvious sign is when your email client displays some kind of security-related icon. Let\u2019s take a quick look at what you see when a message is encrypted using TLS encryption only and then move on to what it looks like when a message is encrypted using an S\/MIME email signing certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">TLS Encryption in Gmail<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/transparencyreport.google.com\/safer-email\/overview?hl=en&amp;encrypt_out=start:1656633600000;end:1666137599999;series:outbound&amp;lu=encrypt_out\">Google\u2019s Transparency Report<\/a>, 89% of outbound and 93% of inbound emails in Gmail have been encrypted thus far in 2022 (measured Jan. 1-Oct. 18, 2022). When you use TLS encryption for email, you\u2019re securing the communication channel that the data will be sent through to the recipient. You\u2019re not encrypting the email itself. But what does this look like? In Gmail, you\u2019ll see a grey security padlock for messages sent using the secure TLS protocol:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"634\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/tls-encrypted-email-gmail-grey-icon-shadow-634x1024.png\" alt=\"A screenshot of an encrypted email message in Gmail as it displays on an Apple iPhone.\" class=\"wp-image-3069\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/tls-encrypted-email-gmail-grey-icon-shadow-634x1024.png 634w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/tls-encrypted-email-gmail-grey-icon-shadow-186x300.png 186w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/tls-encrypted-email-gmail-grey-icon-shadow-560x904.png 560w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/tls-encrypted-email-gmail-grey-icon-shadow.png 670w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 634px) 100vw, 634px\" \/><figcaption>Image caption: A screenshot of an email I&#8217;d received that displays the standard TLS encryption was used to securely send the message to my email server. This was accessed via the Gmail mobile app for an iPhone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If a message is sent via an unencrypted protocol, then you\u2019ll instead see a red padlock icon with a slash through it. If it\u2019s encrypted using an S\/MIME email encryption certificate, then you\u2019ll see a green icon with a plus sign in the middle:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"101\" height=\"101\" src=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/unencrypted-and-encrypted-email-icons-gmail.jpg\" alt=\"Two graphics that illustrate the concepts of insecure and secure connections\" class=\"wp-image-3070\"\/><figcaption>Original graphics&#8217; source<em>: <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/mail\/answer\/6330403?hl=en\"><em>Gmail\u2019s Support Forum<\/em><\/a><em>. A side-by-side set of screenshots we created using two icon graphics from Gmail that show how the security icons for unencrypted (left) and encrypted (right) messages display.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">End-to-End Encryption Using an S\/MIME Certificate in Outlook<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, let\u2019s explore what it looks like when you sign the message itself using an email signing certificate. This process encrypts the message so it\u2019s secure while sitting on the recipient\u2019s server after you hit \u201csend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you receive an encrypted message while using Outlook on a Windows device, you\u2019ll see a yellow padlock as shown below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"973\" height=\"610\" src=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/outlook-encrypted-email-example-shadow.png\" alt=\"A screenshot of a test encrypted email to show how an encrypted message displays in Outlook on a Windows device when the sender uses your public key to sign the message\" class=\"wp-image-3071\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/outlook-encrypted-email-example-shadow.png 973w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/outlook-encrypted-email-example-shadow-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/outlook-encrypted-email-example-shadow-560x351.png 560w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/outlook-encrypted-email-example-shadow-940x589.png 940w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/outlook-encrypted-email-example-shadow-480x300.png 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 973px) 100vw, 973px\" \/><figcaption><em>Image caption: A screenshot of how an encrypted message displays in the Outlook email client on a Windows computer.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In Outlook on a Mac, you\u2019ll see the following grey padlock when you receive an encrypted email:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"462\" src=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/outlook-mac-encrypted-email-2-shadow-1024x462.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of a test encrypted email to show how an encrypted message displays in Outlook on a Mac when the sender uses your public key to sign the message\" class=\"wp-image-3072\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/outlook-mac-encrypted-email-2-shadow-1024x462.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/outlook-mac-encrypted-email-2-shadow-300x135.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/outlook-mac-encrypted-email-2-shadow-560x253.jpg 560w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/outlook-mac-encrypted-email-2-shadow-940x424.jpg 940w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/outlook-mac-encrypted-email-2-shadow.jpg 1336w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Image caption: A screenshot of how an encrypted message displays in the Outlook email client on an Apple computer.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>All of this is great, right? But you may wonder how you can tell whether the encryption is legitimate. This is another advantage of using these digital certificates: they help you assert your digital identity in a verifiable way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you click on the padlock icon when using Outlook on Windows, you\u2019ll see a new window popup that displays the message\u2019s security properties information. (Basically, this is information regarding the S\/MIME email signing certificate that was used to sign the message.) Here\u2019s a quick progression of the information you can see when you click through the different encryption and digital signature layers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"468\" src=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypted-email-certificate-info-callouts2-shadow-1024x468.jpg\" alt=\"A view of the different message security layers of an encrypted and digitally signed email\" class=\"wp-image-3073\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypted-email-certificate-info-callouts2-shadow-1024x468.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypted-email-certificate-info-callouts2-shadow-300x137.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypted-email-certificate-info-callouts2-shadow-560x256.jpg 560w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypted-email-certificate-info-callouts2-shadow-940x430.jpg 940w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypted-email-certificate-info-callouts2-shadow.jpg 1266w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Image caption: A screenshot of the Message Security Properties window when you flip through the individual security layers of the digitally signed and encrypted email.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sending an Email Using S\/MIME Is an Easy Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sending an email using an S\/MIME certificate is easy once you have it installed in your email client. We\u2019ll use Outlook as an example. Simply have the recipient send you a digitally signed email; this will give you their public key. Once you have that, then you can use it to digitally sign and encrypt your email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simple create a new email, add all of your content and any attachments. Next, select <strong>Options<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Encrypt <\/strong>&gt;<strong> Encrypt with S\/MIME<\/strong> in your top navigation bar:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"733\" src=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypt-email-outlook-shadow-1024x733.jpg\" alt=\"A screen that illustrates how to encrypt an email in Outlook using an S\/MIME certificate\" class=\"wp-image-3074\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypt-email-outlook-shadow-1024x733.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypt-email-outlook-shadow-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypt-email-outlook-shadow-560x401.jpg 560w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypt-email-outlook-shadow-940x673.jpg 940w, https:\/\/sectigostore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/encrypt-email-outlook-shadow.jpg 1039w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Image caption: A screenshot illustrating how to encrypt an email in Outlook on a Windows computer using an S\/MIME email certificate.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After that, simply send the email and it\u2019ll be encrypted automatically. Yup, it\u2019s really that simple. Now, your message is encrypted and can only be opened by the recipient who has the private key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final Thoughts on Email Encryption<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As you\u2019ve learned, not all emails are automatically encrypted (even though they should be). The good news, though, is that most major email service providers do use TLS encryption to secure their customers\u2019 messages in transit. But if you need another layer of security to send sensitive data, then you need a little something extra to secure your messages while they\u2019re sitting on the email server. A common way of achieving this outcome is to use an S\/MIME certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you talk about encrypting emails, it sounds like it would be a highly complicated and involved process. But as you\u2019ve learned, it\u2019s really not; virtually anyone can do it when they have the right tools (such as an email signing certificate) in place.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although encryption is the go-to standard for Internet data security, not all service providers offer email encryption as an option. Here\u2019s what to know about email encryption and how to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3076,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,9],"tags":[271,55,272],"class_list":["post-3066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-email-security","category-encryption","tag-email-encryption","tag-email-security","tag-is-email-encrypted","post-with-tags"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Is Email Encrypted? Sometimes\u2026 Here\u2019s How You Can Tell - InfoSec Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is email encrypted? Yes, it often is but not always. 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