Email Encryption for Gmail… Yes We Can!

Gmail Security LogoFor a long time now, I’ve used Gmail because of how convenient it is. From a security perspective, Google encrypts all the traffic between your computer and their servers using HTTPS, however if you send an email to a non-Gmail user, your email is sent in plain text to the other email server. This makes your emails easily intercept-able and readable by the NSA and any other organization that has control of a router between Google and the other email provider.  This is why the US general Petraeus who used to be in charge of the CIA used a single Gmail account as a “drop box” to communicate with his mistress via email drafts rather than send emails or text messages to her; because he knew that email traveling between service providers is intercepted by the NSA.

If you’d like to ensure that the NSA does not get a copy of your email conversations, you can install an OpenPGP client for your email program so that you can encrypt your emails. I use a Chrome plugin called Mailvelope to encrypt my Gmail messages.  If you’d like know in detail how OpenPGP works, check out this Wikipedia article on OpenPGP. Here are some OpenPGP clients for other major email clients:

Install on of the GNU Privacy Guard clients above, and then import my public key. Search for it using the short ID 735FA3DA or download and import my public key from Google Drive. I create new keys regularly so be sure to use this key and not older versions. You can also copy and paste my public key from the text block below.  Good Luck!

—–BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK—–
Version: OpenPGP.js v.1.20130712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=zQS4
—–END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK—–

Leave a Reply