Protect the Privacy of Your Email with TLS
Use the TLS cryptographic protocol to keep data in transit safe from unauthorized parties.
Email is the preferred method of communication for businesses, but is effectively a plaintext communication sent from email clients to receiving email servers or from one server to another, leaving the content of messages in transit vulnerable to compromise without additional protection via encryption technology such as the Transport Layer Security (TLS) standard.
What Is TLS & How Does It Help Keep Email Private?
TLS is a cryptographic protocol that offers end-to-end encryption technology for messages “in transit” from one secure email server that has TLS enabled to another, helping to protect user privacy and prevent eavesdropping or content alteration. For optimal security and privacy of message content, TLS is required between all servers handling email communications (including hops between internal and external servers).
TLS secures email communications by encrypting messages from mail server to mail server, making it more difficult for hackers to intercept and read messages. “Opportunistic TLS” describes a scenario in which TLS is used by both sending and receiving parties to negotiate a secured session and encrypt a message, and represents the most secure implementation of the TLS protocol.
It is recommended that all clients and servers insist on mandatory usage of TLS in their email communications - preferably the most recent version, TLS 1.3.
Next Steps
You can read more about how TLS helps to secure email communications and how to configure TLS for the Postfix mail Transfer Agent (MTA), Microsoft 365 Exchange Online and Google Workspace to help secure your email communications in a recent blog post.
Want to learn more about how to protect the privacy of your email with TLS? Get in Touch>>
CyberSecurity Month
- Avoid Phishing Emails
- Be Cautious of Spam Email
- Be Wary of Malicious URLs
- Protect Against Spoofing & Sender Fraud
- Protect the Privacy of Your Email with TLS
- Don’t Rely on Native Microsoft 365 Email Protection Alone
- Implement TLS to Keep Your Email Secure
- Endpoint Security Is Not Enough
- Conduct Regular Email Security Audits
- Configure Email Account Settings with Security in Mind
- Learn How To Spot Threats to Business Email
- Backup Your Data and Isolate Your Backups Offline
- Protect Business Email from Phishing Attacks
- Avoid Sending Sensitive Information Over Email
- Learn About Malicious Links
- Prevent Zero-Day Attacks
- Business Email Is for Business Only
- Learn How To Identify Social Engineering Attacks
- Know Your Email Risk
- Safeguard Your Inbox from Malicious Mail
- Understand How Phishing Attacks Are Carried Out
- Know the Steps in a Spear Phishing Attack
- Familiarize Yourself with the Anatomy of a Whaling Attack
- Understand How Malware Attacks Work
- Learn the Steps in a Ransomware Attack
- Understand the Phases of a Business Email Compromise (BEC) Attack
- Know What Zero-Day Attack Is & How It Works
- Familiarize Yourself with the Phases of an Account Takeover (ATO) & Lateral Phishing Attack
- Learn the Steps in a Social Engineering Attack
- Understand the Types of Email Viruses to Be on the Lookout For