It has become very convenient for us to communicate through emails on regular basis. Practicing good security habits will help ensure that your email address and email messages don’t dangle into the hands of the wrong people.
There are several ways you can employ to keep your email communications confidential. This steps will help protect your emails from being seen by people they are not intended for.
Always Make Use of The “Bcc” If You Are Sending to More Than One Person
If you are sending an email to more than one person, use the “bcc” to include additional email address separated by a comma. Bcc means blind carbon copy. This stops people from seeing all the other e-mail address you have included, thereby keeping each address confidential.
You can request all your contacts to do the same if they are going to put you on an email list so that you won’t have your email shared or seen by people you don’t want. This will protect your email from being used by other people for nefarious purposes, such as sending your spam messages, ordering line of credits in your name, etc.
You Can Have a Separate Email Address for Confidential Communications
It is always advisable not to use your personal email address for confidential communications. This will allow you to have more control over communications that are confidential. People you regularly communicate with on business basis, shouldn’t have access to your personal emails.
If you have two separate emails for this two different purposes, it will prevent you from accidentally sending confidential information to friends or family members.
Only Make Use of Company Emails for Confidential Communications
Always apply caution when using free e-mail services such Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail, their services aren’t secured and third parties can easily intercept e-mails meant for your recipients. It is safer to use your company’s email system; most companies have their email systems located behind a firewall. This makes it much harder for hackers to get hold of your email messages.
Set an Expiration Date for Messages
Some people can’t stand a messy inbox, but statistics shows that an average user doesn’t border cleaning up their private email. They see deleting messages as a waste of time. Considering this, some sensitive information you have sent to a client can be sitting in there for months.
At this point, the fate of that information is no longer controlled by you. You can make use of applications like Virtu, which renders the message unreadable by the recipient or anyone else for that matter after a certain date.
Always Enable Any Security Associated with Your Email
If your email system has security options, enable them for confidential emails. Most email systems allow you to mark email messages as confidential. When you carry out this action, the recipient must click a link in the email to view the actual message. This can help protect your emails from snoopy eyes.
Add A Disclaimer at The Bottom of Your Emails
You can put a disclaimer at the bottom of your email, stating that the mail is confidential and should only be read by the intended recipient. Although this doesn’t stop people from reading the email or distributing it, it will clearly state the fact that the email is confidential and most people are likely to respect your request.
If your disclaimer is vividly stated, then you will have the advantage to take legal actions in the event that someone inappropriately shares or read your email.
Think Carefully About Your Email Contents
Be careful about including sensitive information in your email content such as your credit card and financial accounts, because if these emails get to the wrong hands, the information could be used in a harmful manner.
Conclusion
Keeping your email confidential should be a part and parcel of your daily security. Following the above tips, will keep you on the right track.
