Do you need to send someone sensitive information through email?
Regular email is sent “in the clear” and therefore is subject to
interception by hackers. However, there are many options for sending
private, sensitive information securely through email.
We have collected some links to sites providing solutions for sending
secure email, secure one-time messages, and secure instant messaging,
and encrypting files to send through email.
Infoencrypt
Infoencrypt is a
free, web-based service for easily securing your messages. Simply enter
the text of your message and the encryption password that will be used
for both encryption and decryption. The program encrypts your message
using a strong encryption algorithm, making it secure to send. Anyone
who intercepts the encrypted message without the password will not be
able to read the original message.
Infoencrypt does not require installation on your PC.
SafeGmail
SafeGmail
is a free extension for Google Chrome that allows you to send encrypted
emails to anyone. The messages are encrypted and decrypted within the
browser and remain encrypted in both the sender’s and receiver’s email
inboxes. The messages also automatically expire after a random amount of
time.
SafeGmail works with any recipient email provider
RMail
RMail allows you to easily send emails with end-to-end security and compliance. Send encrypted email from your current email address (10 free messages allowed per month) and automatically receive a Registered Receipt™ record proving encrypted delivery and compliance with open tracking.
Sendinc
Sendinc is a
web-based service that makes it safe and simple to transmit sensitive
information via email. You and your recipients can use Sendinc for free.
No software is required.
Sendinc secures your message by ensuring that your data remains
encrypted from the time it leaves your computer through the time your
recipients retrieve it. At no point in the process is your message data
transmitted or stored in an unencrypted format. Sendinc further ensures
the safety of your messages by verifying your recipients are in fact
your intended recipients.
Messages are encrypted with a powerful randomly-generated encryption
key that is emailed to your recipients in the form of a link. Sendinc
does not save a copy of your recipients’ encryption keys and your
message can not be decrypted without the key – not even by Sendinc. This
means only your recipients can decode the message data.
Hushmail
Hushmail is a
secure web-based free email service that looks and feels just like any
other web-mail site, but adds strong encryption to your emails to
protect your secrets from prying eyes. It uses standards-compliant
encryption and provides mobile access (Android, iPhone, BlackBerry,
etc.).
Paid plans are also available that provide additional storage, unlimited email aliases, dedicated technical support, and desktop access.
Lockbin
Lockbin is a free
web application for sending private email messages and files. Lockbin
ends message persistence, which means your email message will not be
backed up on email servers or stored in backup files. Network sniffers
can also spy on your email traffic while in transit. Use Lockbin to
obscure the content of your message and avoid these hazards to your
privacy.
No registration is required to use Lockbin. Your message and file
attachments are protected by strong AES-256 bit encryption and your
secret password. You invent the password and deliver it to the recipient
using a different secure method, not email.
The free plan allows one user to send secure messages with secure
file attachments up to 15MB. Files are stored for up to one month. You
can also download free Lockbin Java desktop software and a free
Microsoft Outlook add-in for sending and receiving Lockbin messages.
There are also paid plans providing more features and allowing for larger limits on file attachments and for more users
iSafeguard
iSafeguard is a
software package that provides easy-to-use and highly secure encryption
and digital signature solutions for everyone from big companies to
individual users. The software allows you to sign and encrypt files,
folders, and emails and verify digital signatures and countersignatures.
It provides a secure text editor and allows you to wipe files, folders,
and free disk space. It also integrates with the Windows shell.
The freeware edition of their software is for non-business, individual users. Although it lacks some of the features the enterprise and professional editions
have it does provide powerful encryption and digital signatures
capabilities, and security is as strong as the enterprise and
professional editions.
All editions support using certificates from any Certificate Authorities, and handle certificate status checking automatically.
Sbwave Enkryptor
Sbwave Enkryptor
is a free service that encrypts text messages for email delivery. The
encrypted email is entered and sent via a web form. The recipient
receives the encrypted message in a similar form, then simply enters the
encryption code you chose and the message is decrypted.
There is no software to install, nothing to sign up for, and no ads
attached to the messages. The service requires an encryption code that
both you and the recipient know and a mail client that understands HTML
such as Outlook Express, Netscape Messenger, Hotmail, NetZero, Lycos or
any number of free email systems.
Safe-mail.net
Safe-mail is a
highly secure communication, storage, sharing and distribution system
for the Internet. It provides email, instant messaging, data
distribution, data storage, and file sharing tools in a suite of
applications that enables businesses and individuals to communicate and
store data with privacy and confidence. Every application is secured by
state-of-the-art encryption ensuring the highest level protection and
privacy to users. Within the overall system as with each application,
security is not an add-on feature but has been designed into the
fundamental architecture of the system.
The system is available at any time and from any location using any
device or operating system, be it PC or Macintosh, Windows or Unix, Sun
or i-mode enabled wireless device.
Safe-mail’s free service contains ALL the functionality of the
Safe-mail system but is limited to 3Mb of storage space, less names in
the address book, less folders, filters, smaller mail quota and reduced
frequency of backup. To increase access to these resources, they offer a
range of Premium Services.
There are no advertisements, downloads or cookies. Safe-mail supports
most hardware platforms and any operating system. Includes file
storage, spam filters and anti virus protection. Full compatibility with
most browsers, email clients and all relevant protocols including POP,
SMTP, IMAP, S/MIME and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).
Enigmail
Enigmail
is a security extension to Mozilla Thunderbird and Seamonkey. It
enables you to write and receive email messages signed and/or encrypted
with the OpenPGP standard. Enigmail can also be used with Eudora OSE and
Postbox (using a Postbox extension).
Enigmail is an email plugin. It cannot be run by itself. You need to use one of the supported email clients, the GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG), and a little patience. You may also need to install the proper Enigmail language pack.
Comodo Free Secure Email Certificate
Comodo Free Secure Email Certificate
allows you to protect your digital communications. The digital
signature ensures confidentiality and provides secure message encryption
with up to 256-bit security. The Comodo Free Secure Email Certificate
is free for personal use, integrates with Microsoft® Office and major
applications, and is trusted by popular email clients.
Email certificates provide the strongest levels of confidentiality
and security for your electronic communications by allowing you to
digitally sign and encrypt your mail and attachments. Encryption means
that only your intended recipient will be able to read the mail while
digitally signing allows them to confirm you as the sender and verify
the message was not tampered with en route. Comodo’s email certificates
are free for personal/home users and are available from as little as $12
per year for business users.
Mobrien.com
Mobrien.com
offers a free encrypted email service that transmit your email text
message in an encrypted form so that it cannot be parsed for key words
while en route. What happens once it is stored on the receiver’s
computer is up to them and the protective security measures they have
enabled.
Your e-mail remains encrypted from the time it is sent and until it
is received and decrypted by the intended recipient. The recipient
automatically receives instructions for decrypting messages. No
unencrypted message is transmitted across the internet.
Between transmissions, when your e-mail is stored on mail servers,
the message remains encrypted and the content cannot be “sniffed” for
specific key words, which is the manner in which email “eavesdroppers”
select the emails they want to read.
Using Mobrien.com’s encrypted email service, there is no need to
exchange passwords or complex public key details with encrypted email
recipients. The recipients are automatically sent instructions for
deciphering the encrypted email. Sending an encrypted email message
using Mobrien.com is as simple as sending an ordinary email with a web
client. Other email encryption methods require the sender and receiver
to exchange public keys which is complicated, inconvenient, and not very
practical when spontaneously sending encoded email messages.
SafeMess
SafeMess
allows you to encrypt any message text in a few seconds. After the
encryption is done, your message will appear unreadable to the human
eye. Then you can send your message to a friend or save it to a file for
later use. Your friend will only be able to read the message if he or
she enters the secret password that you have chosen.
SafeMess can be used on any message and is suitable when the
communication is done via an unsecured channel (like mail, IM, chat,
etc.) or when you want to hide information from robots or filters.
The encryption script always runs locally in the browser on your
computer. Therefore, your secret password and message will never be sent
over the Internet to the SafeMess server.
Currently, you cannot encrypt more than 32 kilobytes of data (that is
more than 10 printed pages of text) using SafeMess. All character sets
are supported, including US, European, Cyrillic, Chinese and Japanese as
long as the browser has support for UTF-8 encoding.
You can use SafeMess in any modern web browser with JavaScript
enabled. They have successfully tested it in Internet Explorer 6+,
Firefox 2+, Chrome 2+, Safari 3+ , Opera 9+ and Opera Mini. You should
also be able to use SafeMess on advanced phones and PDAs, such as iPhone
and Android devices. However, it does not work with older Nokia and
Sony Ericsson phones.
Crypto Anywhere
Crypto Anywhere
is a program that is small enough to fit on a USB flash drive,
providing free secure email on the go. Don’t have a computer yourself
but want to protect your web based e-mail at your local internet cafe?
Crypto Anywhere is for you. If you run Crypto Anywhere from a USB flash
drive, you can encrypt your email without even installing software on
your workstation. With Crypto Anywhere you can send and receive secure
email to and from anyone with an email account – the recipients do not
have to have Crypto Anywhere themselves.
Crypto Anywhere is free for personal and corporate use.
Opolis Secure Email Service
Opolis is a
high-security email service. Combining the latest E-Mail security
technologies, Opolis transmits, processes and stores all your
confidential messages in encrypted mode. Accessible from all over the
world, Opolis operates on your PC in parallel to standard email
applications, such as Microsoft’s Outlook or Apple’s Mail. The Opolis
Mail Client runs on any machine and does not require any specific
configuration.
Opolis is a fully integrated service provider for all your
confidential emails, combining a global infrastructure, server systems,
backup facilities, storage and customer service.
Mailvelope
Mailvelope
is an easy-to-use Chrome extension that offers free, OpenPGP encryption
for the most popular webmail services. It comes preconfigured for major
webmail providers (Gmail/Google Apps, Outlook, Yahoo! and GMX) and
integrates directly into the webmail user interface. It can also be
configured to support other webmail services.
A Firefox version of Mailvelope is currently in development. An early preview can be found in the GitHub repository.
Trend Micro Email Encryption Client
Trend Micro Email Encryption Client
is a plug-in for Microsoft Outlook that enables secure, confidential
and private email communications between you and any of your Outlook
contacts.
Since regular email is transmitted “in the clear,” it is vulnerable
to interception and eavesdropping on the internet and by online email
providers such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail. Safe, secure, and free
for non-commercial use, Trend Micro Email Encryption Client ensures
that no one except you and your recipients can read your encrypted email
messages and attachments.
Simply click the “Send Private” button from Outlook to encrypt your
email message and any attachments with 256-bit AES, the same encryption
standard approved for used by US government agencies.
Crypt4Free
Crypt4Free
is a free program that allows you to encrypt every kind of file on
every kind of medium, whether floppy disk, removable hard drive, zip
drive, tape drive or other, using the proven encryption algorithm, DESX.
It offers full .zip support, providing the ability to browse for
existing .zip archives, extract their contents, and even create new .zip
archives.
The program also allows you to send encrypted files and messages via
the internet and to encrypt email text (or any other text message) to
send it securely via e-mail, chat, or instant messengers like ICQ, AOL
Messenger, Microsoft Messenger, etc. The recipient must enter the
password to read this message.
Crypt4Free provides a user privacy tool that removes all internet
traces, such as URL history, typed URLs, Favorites, Recycle Bin, typed
passwords in web forms, etc. There is also a built-in file shredder that
allows you to wipe the contents of the original, pre-encrypted file.
The company that offers Crypt4Free, SecureAction, also sells a
program called Advanced Encryption Package Professional for $49.95. The
program offers features not available in the freeware version, such as
creation of self-extracting archives, integration with Windows Explorer,
complete command line support, RSA algorithm support, and 17 additional
encryption algorithms and 19 additional secure files erasure
algorithms.
dsCrypt
dsCrypt
is an AES/Rijndael file encryption program with a simple, multi-file,
drag-and-drop interface. It features optimal implementation, performance
and safety measures. dsCrypt uses an advanced encryption algorithm and
offers unique options for enhanced security. It is available as a small,
self-contained, and dependency-free file you can run on your PC or on a
USB flash drive.
Files you encrypt are converted into encrypted .dsc files. If you use
dsCrypt to send a private message to someone via email, the recipient
simply has to drag and drop a .dsc file onto the dsCrypt program window,
type the correct password, and the file will be decrypted and made
usable again.
MEO
MEO
is file encryption software for Windows or Mac or Windows that allow
you to encrypt and decrypt files of any type. Protect sensitive data
against unauthorized viewers with the latest data encryption
technologies to keep your documents safe and secure.
Use MEO to easily send encrypted emails, or create self-extracting
encrypted files so the receiver can open the encrypted files on any
Windows or Mac computer without needing to install the encryption
software on their machine. MEO also provides context menu integration so
you can encrypt files outside of the MEO program.
The free version is available for non-commercial use.
Encrypt Files
Encrypt Files
is a free, lightweight but powerful program that allows you to encrypt
your files and folders and password protect them. It supports 13
encryption methods. You have the option to shred the original files
after encryption or to make the files hidden after encryption. The
software must be installed on both the sender’s and recipient’s
computers. When you encrypt a file, a new copy of the file is created
that is encrypted, leaving the original file alone. You can then choose
leave, delete, or shred the original file.
ThreadThat
ThreadThat
is a free web-based service that allows you to easily conduct online,
bi-directional, passkey-protected, anonymous communication using secure
threads in your own private, encrypted message center. A secure thread
is a series of exchanges between two or more individuals arranged in one
convenient continuous conversation that can be accessed with a single
mouse click. There is no limit to the number of messages or files on a
Thread and no limitation on the length of time the conversation spans.
All messages and files are encrypted while in-transit and while at-rest
and can only be accessed by other invited ThreadThat users. Threads only
exist on ThreadThat servers, never on an end-user computing device.
ThreadThat does not require that you download and install any software and there is no advertising, games, SPAM, or malware.
Burn Note
Burn Note is a
free web application that allows you to have private conversations
online. Enter a note and protect it with a password. When you click
Send, a link is generated. Send the link and communicate the password to
the recipient. Once they have read the note, or the specified time
period has passed, the note self destructs. The recipient can securely
reply to your note.
Every message on Burn Note is automatically deleted and uses
patent-pending technology to prevent copying. Deleted Burn Notes are
completely erased from the Burn Note servers after a certain amount of
time you specify, so it is impossible for anyone to retrieve them.
QuickForget.com
QuickForget.com
is a free, web-based service that allows you to share secret messages
that self destruct after a set amount of time. Enter a message and get a
link you can share with the recipient of your message. You can set the
number of views allowed and also the amount of time before the message
self-destructs. Once a message is deleted, it is gone forever. If you
try to access to access the message after it is deleted, a message
displays, saying, “Sorry, I’ve already forgotten the secret.”
Privnote
Privnote is a free service that
allows you to send private message that self-destruct after being read
once. You do not need to register or create a password. You simply write
your note, click the red button to create a link, and then send that
link to the desired recipient. When the person accesses that link, they
will see the note in their browser, and the note automatically
self-destructs. No one, not even the same person who viewed the note,
can access the note again.
There is no time limit by which the link must be viewed or it will be
self-destructed. The one feature Privnote has that OneShar.es does not
is a check box that allows you to receive notification when the message
has been read.
OneShar.es
OneShar.es is a free service that allows you to share confidential information with others that you don’t want to send through email or post on instant messaging services. The information shared is encrypted from you to OneShar.es and stored encrypted. OneShar.es cannot read your information. It is assigned a unique URL that you can share. The provided URL can only be accessed once. Once someone visits the URL you send them, the information is unlocked so they can view it, and then the message is deleted. You can specify minutes, hours, or days by which the message will be self-destructed if not viewed. The maximum amount of time is 3 days.OneShar.es does not require a password or registration and can also be used on Android and iOS devices.
Steganos LockNote
Steganos LockNote
is a small, simple program that allows you to store private text in
filessecurely. For example, if you purchase a download-only program, you
can use LockNote to store the product key or serial number that goes
with that program in the same folder, so you always know where to find
it. The program works like Windows Notepad, but when you save the file,
you’ll be prompted for a password.
In addition to using LockNote to store personal, private data, you
can use LockNote to send someone a private message. Enter your message
in LockNote, password-protect the message, and then send the LockNote
file to your recipient via email. When your recipient opens the LockNote
file on their PC, all they have to do is enter the password and they
can read your message.
You can also add protection to the file by putting it in a secure,
encrypted vault using an encryption program. We list some options for
that later in this article.
Free File Camouflage
Free File Camouflage
is a free program that allows you to hide your files inside a jpeg
image. The software can be used with the main interface or via the
Windows Explorer “send to” context menu (the first time you only need to
select a directory with some images).
All the files are encrypted using AES and hidden inside an image. If
someone tried to open your camouflaged image, all they see is the image.
If you use this method to send someone a private text message in a
file hidden inside an image, the recipient must use Free File Camouflage
to de-camouflage the file. If sending the camouflaged image through
email, we recommend that you add a password when encrypting the file
into an image.
The remaining two options for securing data allow you to create
encrypted file vaults in which you can store private files. As long as
your recipient knows the password required to open the vault, you can
use this method to send private information to people via email. Simply
attach the encrypted vault file to an email message.
TrueCrypt
If you are looking for a simple and powerful way to encrypt
everything from system drives to backup discs to everything in between, TrueCrypt
is a free, open-source tool that will help you lock up your files. It
is an on-the-fly encryption application that allows you to work with
encrypted files as you would work on files located on a regular drive.
TrueCrypt allows you to create a virtual, encrypted disk within a file
and mounts it like a real hard drive. Encryption in TrueCrypt is
automatic and transparent, as well as real-time.
Once you have created your virtual, encrypted disk in a file, you can
email that file. The recipient needs to have the TrueCrypt software
installed and the password used to protect the file.
SafeHouse Explorer
SafeHouse Explorer
is a free, portable encryption program available to everyone as a free
download in order to promote data privacy and to help you to protect
your confidential files. It makes your secret files invisible and hides
them from snoopers, intruders and anyone else who doesn’t have your
permission to view them. Use SafeHouse Explorer to create private
storage vaults to store sensitive files. These vaults can be as large as
2GB each.
SafeHouse Explorer uses passwords and maximum-strength 256-bit
Twofish advanced encryption to protect your storage vaults, completely
hiding and defending your sensitive files, including photos, videos,
spreadsheets, databases and just about any other kind of file that you
might have. The program can protect files residing on any drive,
including memory sticks, external USB drives, network servers, CD/DVDs,
and even iPods. SafeHouse Explorer is easy to use, providing a Windows
Explorer-like drag-and-drop interface.
If you use SafeHouse Explorer to send someone private information via
email, your recipient can access the SafeHouse storage vault using the
free SafeHouse Explorer program. However, you can also create a
self-extracting .exe encrypted storage vault that your recipient can
simply run to open and access the files within the vault. Creating a
self-extracting .exe file automatically includes the SafeHouse Explorer
program in the storage vault file. When you run the file and enter the
password, SafeHouse Explorer starts and the storage vault is
automatically opened.
SafeHouse Explorer is a full featured program and will never expire.
Sophos Free Encryption
Sophos Free Encryption
is a program that allows you to send encrypted data by creating
password-protected archives you can send using most email programs. When
you encrypt your data, the files are automatically compressed and the
archives are automatically added to new email messages. Encrypted files
can be self-extracting so recipients don’t need special software to open
the file; all they will need is the password.
Credit: HTG/ Lori Kaufman
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