需要在加密的电子邮件中向某人发送一些非常敏感的数据(very sensitive data in an encrypted email message)？当然，您始终可以通过正常的电子邮件渠道发送，但您的电子邮件可能会被知道如何捕获通过Internet发送的电子邮件的人阅读。在加密电子邮件时，您必须加密连接并加密电子邮件本身。
第一个问题由电子邮件提供商(email provider)部分解决。例如，当您使用Gmail时，连接使用SSL加密，您会注意到地址栏中(address bar)的HTTPS。
这意味着您从计算机发送到Gmail服务器的所有内容都将被加密。但是，一旦电子邮件离开 Google 的服务器并通过Internet，它可能不会一直加密到最终目的地。那时，您必须确保电子邮件本身是加密的，因此即使它被某人截获，也只是胡言乱语。
在您当前的电子邮件客户端（无论是Gmail 还是 Outlook(Gmail or Outlook) ）中实施加密，需要初始设置和一些额外的步骤才能让收件人阅读。不幸的是，没有电子邮件提供商提供在发送者和接收者(sender and receiver)之间透明工作的内置加密。谷歌(Google)表示它正在通过Chrome 扩展(Chrome extension)测试 Gmail 的端到端加密(testing end-to-end encryption for Gmail)，但在撰写本文时，它尚未发布该工具。
所以基本上你唯一的选择是在你的计算机上安装复杂的加密程序，或者通过扩展安装到你的浏览器中，然后与你想要发送电子邮件的人交换公钥，或者只是使用在线服务来发送加密消息。后一种选择要容易得多，基本上只需要收件人输入您通过电子邮件、电话、短信等单独提供给他们的密码。
在本文中，我将列出一些用于发送加密电子邮件的工具，而无需安装加密软件(encryption software)和使用您的实际电子邮件客户端(email client)发送加密电子邮件。当Google(Google)发布他们的Gmail端到端加密工具(encryption tool)时，我会确保更新这篇文章。唯一需要注意的是，除非发送者和接收者(sender and receiver)都使用Google Chrome 和 Gmail(Google Chrome and Gmail) ，否则该服务将无法运行。我想还是有总比没有好。
如果您只对向少数不介意(t mind)为其设置加密的人发送加密电子邮件感兴趣，请按照(follow this guide)此处的指南操作，该指南说明了如何在Thunderbird 或 Postbox(Thunderbird or Postbox)等电子邮件客户端中设置加密，或即使在Gmail 或 Yahoo(Gmail or Yahoo)中，但同样的限制是收件人也需要使用加密软件(encryption software)。
如果您要共享高度敏感的信息并且您不能信任任何第三方实体，那么设置自己的加密也是一个好主意。我在下面提到的所有服务都是受美国法律(US law)约束的私营公司，这意味着如果政府机构(government agency)出示搜查令，他们可以强制他们解密其服务器上的任何内容。即使他们无法为警方解密数据，他们也将被要求放弃加密数据。如果警察可以破解加密，那你就不走运了。
Gmail 的安全邮件
正如我之前提到的，谷歌(Google)将很快为Chrome发布一个加密扩展(encryption extension)，但与此同时，你可以查看用于 Gmail 的 Secure Mail(Secure Mail for Gmail)，它的功能几乎相同。安装扩展程序后，您会注意到“撰写(Compose)”按钮旁边有一个新的锁定图标(lock icon)。
如果您点击撰写(Compose)，您将在Gmail中看到正常的(Gmail)撰写窗口(compose window)，但如果您点击锁形图标(lock icon)，您将获得如下所示的安全电子邮件表单，其顶部带有红色标题和“安全”字样。(Secured)
正常输入您的消息，然后单击“发送加密(Send Encrypted)”按钮。将弹出一个新对话框，要求您输入加密密码(encryption password)。
收件人将收到一封包含大量加密文本的电子邮件，其中包含下载和安装安全 Gmail 扩展程序(Secure Gmail extension)的链接。如前所述，它仅在收件人使用Gmail 和 Chrome(Gmail and Chrome)时才有效，否则他们将无法阅读电子邮件的内容。
总的来说，它是针对特定目的的一个很好的解决方案，因为我经常使用Gmail ，而且我发送电子邮件的大多数人也使用Gmail，所以它最终运行良好。有时(Sometimes)我只需要说服他们使用Google Chrome即可，仅此而已。希望这个扩展在未来能够进一步扩展，除了支持其他电子邮件服务之外，还提供适用于不同浏览器的版本。
锁箱
Lockbin 使用强大的加密算法(encryption algorithm)等为您完成了加密数据的所有繁琐工作，因此您所要做的就是想一个密码并单击(password and click) 发送(Send)。
它的工作原理如下：当您要发送消息时，您首先需要想出一个秘密单词或密码(word or password)，他们的加密算法将使用该密码来加密电子邮件并将其存储在他们的服务器上。然后，您需要将此密码传送给将通过电话、短信、IM 或未受保护的电子邮件接收电子邮件的人！
然后接收者访问Lockbin并输入他的密码以在他/她的本地浏览器中解密电子邮件。实际解密不在服务器上进行，因此(server and hence)在解密过程中(decryption process)没有数据通过Internet传输。电子邮件一打开，加密邮件就会从Lockbin服务器中永久删除；不保留副本或备份(copy or backup)。下面是我的消息“(message “)我有一个秘密”在Lockbin服务器上的存储方式。
当用户打开加密的电子邮件时，收件人可以将其打印或导出为PDF。如果没有人查看该邮件，它将在Lockbin服务器上保持加密状态长达 6 个月，然后才会被删除。
Sendinc 电子邮件加密
Sendinc有几个我非常喜欢的安全电子邮件问题的解决方案。(secure email problem)首先，他们提供的免费服务可让您每天发送 20 条消息，附件最多 10MB。我真正喜欢的另外两个功能是免费的智能手机应用程序(smartphone app)和免费的Outlook 插件(Outlook add-on)。这使您可以从手机或Outlook发送安全电子邮件，而不必担心加密密钥。
在收件人端，他们只需要一个能够查看电子邮件的网络浏览器。为了使用该服务，您必须创建一个帐户，如果收件人想阅读邮件，这也是如此。Sendinc(Sendinc doesn)不需要(t require)您创建密码，因为任何收到电子邮件的收件人只要创建一个帐户就可以解密内容。这更方便，但您必须更加小心，以免链接落入坏人之手。
总的来说，它工作得很好，我喜欢他们有移动应用程序和Outlook 加载项(Outlook add-in)的事实。要从收件人那里收到加密的电子邮件，他们必须以相同的方式使用该服务。在所有这些情况下，基本上就像使用新的电子邮件提供商(email provider)来发送安全电子邮件一样。
还有很多其他网站与上面提到的几乎相同，所以我不会列出这些，因为它们工作得非常好并且具有最多的功能等等。同样(Again)，电子邮件本质上是不安全的，直到有人来一种更好的电子邮件发送方式，您将被这些半生不熟的解决方案所困扰，这些解决方案需要使用第三方发送电子邮件或要求您在您的机器和收件人机器上安装相当复杂的软件。如果您有任何疑问，请发表评论。享受！
How to Send Secure Encrypted Email for Free
Need to send someonе somе very sensitive data in an encrypted email message? Of course, you can always send it via normal email channels, but you run the risk of having your email read by someone who knows how to capture email messages as they are sent across the Internet. When it comes to encrypting email, you have to encrypt the connection and encrypt the email itself.
The first problem is partially taken care of by the email provider. For example, when you use Gmail, the connection is encrypted using SSL and you’ll notice the HTTPS in the address bar.
This means anything you send from your computer to Gmail servers will be encrypted. However, once the email leaves Google’s servers and goes across the Internet, it may not be encrypted all the way to its final destination. At that point, you have to ensure the email itself is encrypted, so even if it were to be intercepted by someone, it would just be gibberish.
Implementing encryption inside of your current email client, whether it be Gmail or Outlook, requires initial setup and a few extra steps for the recipient to read it. Unfortunately, no email provider provides in-built encryption that works transparently between sender and receiver. Google has said it’s testing end-to-end encryption for Gmail via a Chrome extension, but as of the writing of this post, it hasn’t yet released the tool.
So basically your only choices are installing complicated encryption programs on your computer or into your browser via extensions and then exchanging public keys with the person you want to send the email too or simply using an online service for sending encrypted messages. The latter option is far easier and basically only requires the recipient to enter a password that you provide to them separately via email, phone, text, etc.
In this article, I’ll list out a couple of tools for sending encrypted emails without the major hassles of installing encryption software and using your actual email client for sending encrypted email. I’ll make sure to update this post when Google releases their end-to-end encryption tool for Gmail. The only caveat that there will probably be that the service won’t work unless both sender and receiver are using Google Chrome and Gmail. I guess it’s still better than nothing.
If you’re only interested in sending encrypted email to a small number of people who also don’t mind setting up encryption on their end, then follow this guide here which explains how you can setup encryption in an email client like Thunderbird or Postbox or even in Gmail or Yahoo, but with the same restriction that the recipient will need to use encryption software also.
Setting up your own encryption is also a good idea if you’re sharing highly sensitive information and you can’t trust any third-party entities. All the services I mention below are private companies subject to US law, which means that a government agency could force them to decrypt anything on their servers if presented with a warrant. Even if they can’t decrypt the data for police, they will be required to give up the encrypted data. If the police can then crack the encryption, you’re out of luck.
Secure Mail for Gmail
As I mentioned earlier, Google is going to release an encryption extension for Chrome soon, but in the meantime, you can check out Secure Mail for Gmail, which does pretty much the same thing. Once you install the extension, you’ll notice a new lock icon next to the Compose button.
If you click Compose, you’ll get the normal compose window in Gmail, but if you click the lock icon, you’ll get a secure email form as shown below with a red heading and the words “Secured” at the top.
Type your message in normally and then click on the Send Encrypted button. A new dialog will pop up that will ask you to enter the encryption password.
The recipient will receive an email with a bunch of encrypted text with a link to download and install the Secure Gmail extension. As mentioned before, it’ll only work if the recipient is using Gmail and Chrome, otherwise, they won’t be able to read the contents of the email.
Overall, it’s a great solution for one specific purpose and since I use Gmail a lot and most of the people I email also use Gmail, it ends up working out well. Sometimes I just have to convince them to use Google Chrome, but that’s about it. Hopefully, this extension will be extended even further in the future with version for different browsers in addition to support for other email services.
Lockbin
Lockbin does all of the dirty work of encrypting the data for you using a strong encryption algorithm, etc, so all you have to do is think of a password and click Send.
Here’s how it works: when you want to send a message, you first need to think up a secret word or password, which will be used by their cryptographic algorithm to encrypt and store the email on their servers. Then you need to transmit this password to the person who will be receiving the email via phone, text message, IM, or via unprotected email!
Then the receiver visits Lockbin and enters his password to decrypt the email in his/her local browser. The actual decryption does not take place on the server and hence no data is being transferred across the Internet during the decryption process. As soon as the email is opened, the encrypted message is deleted from the Lockbin servers forever; no copy or backup is kept. Here’s how my message “I have a secret” is stored on Lockbin servers.
When the user opens the encrypted email, it can be printed or exported as a PDF by the recipient. If no one ever views the message, it will remain encrypted on Lockbin servers for up to 6 months before being deleted.
Sendinc Email Encryption
Sendinc has a couple of solutions to the secure email problem that I really like. Firstly, the free service they offer lets you send 20 messages per day with up to 10MB attachments. The other two features I really like are the free smartphone app and the free Outlook add-on. This allows you to send secure emails from your phone or from Outlook without having to worry about encryption keys.
On the recipients end, all they need is a web browser to be able to view the emails. In order to use the service, you have to create an account and the same is true for the recipient if they want to read the message. Sendinc doesn’t require you to create a password because any recipient who gets the email will be able to decrypt the contents as long as they create an account. That’s more convenient, but you have to be more careful that the link does not get into the wrong hands.
Overall, it works just fine and I like the fact that they have mobile apps and an Outlook add-in. To receive encrypted emails back from the recipients, they will have to use the service in the same way. In all of these cases, it’s basically like using a new email provider just for sending secure emails.
There are a bunch of other sites that pretty much do the same thing as mentioned above, so I won’t list those out since these work extremely well and have the most features, etc. Again, email is inherently insecure and until someone comes with a better way to do email, you’ll be stuck with these half-baked solutions that require using third parties for sending emails or requiring you to install fairly complex software on your machine and the recipients machine. If you have questions, post a comment. Enjoy!
