Email is one of the easiest cyber channels for hackers to hack. When you send out an email, it leaves your computer or smartphone as plain text. This makes it very simple for a hacker to intercept a message. Plus, people tend to be lazy with their email passwords, which gives the hacker effortless entry into your inbox. That’s why, according to IT support experts in Austin, encrypting your personal and business emails is so important.
Secure Your Communications
Would you post your credit card information on a billboard for everyone to see? Most likely not. Then, why send credit card information out via an unencrypted email? You are inviting hackers to grab it.
You may be someone who never sends out credit card information via email. That’s great. But, do you send out other types of sensitive information? Here’s a list of information you wouldn’t want to get into the hands of a hacker:
- Medical information (test results, billing information, genetic testing, etc.)
- Personal financial information (pins, passwords, account numbers, financial institutions, etc.)
- Unique identifiers (passport information, social security number, driver’s license number, address, identifiable information on minor children, etc.)
Not only do you have to worry about your personal information, you also need to consider business information that could be useful to a hacker. According to IT support experts in Austin, many people transmit business data to clients or co-workers via their personal email. Whether you are an employee or the company owner, this leaves the business vulnerable to attacks.
Encrypting Emails
Encrypting emails requires a public key and a private key. The private key is what you use to encrypt messages you send out and decode messages you receive. The public key is what recipients use to decode messages you send out and to encrypt messages they send to you. The recipients acquire the public key either directly from the sender or from a third-party source.
If you decide to encrypt your emails, you need to make it a consistent practice, not just something you use on sensitive communications. If you only encrypt one email out of 100, you are just inviting the hacker to focus on that one critical encrypted email. If you encrypt everything, the hacker is going to find another target.
Use state-of-the-art cyber security solutions for your Austin business. For more information, contact us at Contigo Technology. We are the IT support experts Austin businesses trust with their encryption needs.