Encryption Evolution: Revolutionizing Business Communication

Customer Experience    | February 7, 2024

Email encryption has come a long way since its inception, evolving from an arcane art to an indispensable tool in the corporate world. The shift from traditional physical email gateways to more secure, cloud-based solutions has been a game-changer for businesses, transforming the way we communicate and exchange sensitive information.

In the early days, email encryption was anything but user-friendly. PGP was first introduced in 1991 as a means of email encryption, ensuring the confidentiality of email content if intercepted en route. Although this marked a positive step forward and gained a substantial global following, it was hardly a seamless experience for the end-user.

“PGP empowers people to take their privacy into their own hands. There has been a growing social need for it. That’s why I wrote it.” – Philip R. Zimmermann, June 1991

Fast forward to today, and the landscape of email encryption has dramatically changed. Modern protocols have revolutionized email security, making it easier than ever to send and receive encrypted messages. The process has become so streamlined that many users may not even realize they’re using encrypted email, which is a testament to how far we’ve come.

One of the most significant developments in recent years has been the rise of customizable encryption solutions. Businesses can now tailor their encryption processes to meet their specific needs, providing a level of flexibility that wasn’t possible in the past. This has opened up new possibilities for businesses to improve their communication processes, making encrypted email a more accessible and practical tool for everyday use.

For example, brand protection is becoming increasingly crucial, especially in the face of rising phishing attacks. Encrypted email solutions play a vital role in this aspect, offering features such as vanity domains, BIMI, locale settings, templates, and branding services. These solutions ensure the automatic application of brand elements across notifications and devices based on domain and/or policy, providing recipients with a consistent and branded experience. Additionally, they support multiple languages, logos, and text per message.

In addition to this, a leading Irish commercial bank recognized the need to enhance customer documentation management and streamline the process by enabling easy and secure returns of documents to a centralized mailbox. By implementing a seamless and secure email solution, the bank achieved a remarkable 63% increase in encryption adoption. Another example is a national agricultural organization that digitized its operations, improving customer experience through the automation of attachment encryption. This streamlined their processes, reduced helpdesk calls, and ensured secure communication with customers.

Looking ahead, the future of email encryption appears bright. As cyber threats continue to evolve, so too will our methods of combating them. We can expect even more user-friendly features, including intuitive interfaces and seamless integration with other applications like SIEM and OpenID, providing access to real-time data.

Moreover, the progress in machine learning and artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize security measures, such as risk-based authentication (RBA) based on geolocation. By leveraging learning algorithms, automated encryption tools can dynamically adapt to emerging threats in real-time, ensuring enhanced protection for sensitive data and enhancing the overall security posture. For example, using SMS verification for Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of security to prevent unauthorized access, which is crucial given the prevalence of weak passwords. Astonishingly, the password “123456” not only ranks as the most commonly used password but also represents one of the easiest targets for hackers to exploit. With over 4.5 million instances of its usage, it takes mere seconds for hackers to gain unauthorized access.

In conclusion, the evolution of email encryption is revolutionizing business communication. By making encrypted email more accessible and user-friendly, businesses can communicate more securely and efficiently than ever before. As this technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see even greater improvements in the user experience, paving the way for a future where secure communication is the norm rather than the exception.