Encryption is an important component to an email system so choosing an encryption solution should be done carefully. What should be considered when evaluating an encryption protection scheme for an organization’s email system? Here are some suggestions to keep in mind.

One important consideration is whether or not a solution uses open standards. Since email is based on an open standard, there are advantages to basing any protection placed on top of it on open standards, too.

One advantage is open standards assure that data can be recovered in the future. If your vendor uses open standards, then you don’t have to worry about accessing your data should you decide to move to another provider in the future or should your vendor go belly up during the next recession.

Another consideration when choosing an encryption solution is mobility. Mobility is important because email must be accessible to a variety of devices from anywhere. Wherever an organization’s workers travel, they’ll want to check their messages and an email encryption solution needs to accommodate that without creating any hassles.

A solid encryption solution should be able to use a mobile device’s native email application. You don’t want to force your workers to learn another interface for their mobile device or leave an email program they’ve become accustomed to in order to work with encrypted messages. Making things harder for users is a sure fire way to invite them to look for ways to circumvent the system. Those ways are almost always insecure and make your organization vulnerable to a raft of unsavory cyber types.

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