How Mailock secure email works and why it's important
Consider when someone sends you a postcard – all the information written on the back can be seen by anyone who comes into contact with it. For this reason, we usually stick to ‘wish you were here!’ messages, instead of writing down any sensitive information, like our bank details or medical history.
What people don’t tend to realise is that emails can be just as insecure as a postcard, with cybercriminals able to access message contents and attachments at multiple points on the email’s virtual journey. However, this can be mitigated by the use of email encryption.
Email Encryption is where email contents, including attachments, are disguised, and changed into a form that can only be read by the people it was sent to. If anyone did manage to catch it while it was travelling through the internet, they would be unable to read it, keeping any personal information safe.
So how do you encrypt emails? That’s where Mailock comes in. When you want to send a private message, Mailock takes it and converts the content of your email before it’s sent. Your recipient will then receive a message telling them they have a secure email, linking them to a site where the content gets decrypted. Sounds easy, right?
You may be thinking; if it’s so easy for the recipient to read it, what happens if you accidentally sent an email to the wrong person? Mailock has you covered there too. We add in an extra layer of security to make sure whoever is reading your message is the person you intended.
When sending an email, Mailock asks you to choose a type of authentication for the recipient to complete. This could be either a security question or an SMS message with a code. By using a question that only your recipient knows the answer to, or gaining authentication directly through a personal mobile, you can be sure that even if the message accidentally arrives in someone's inbox, the contents will remain unreadable.