Google continues to strengthen the security of its services. The Mountain View company has just added a feature that enables end-to-end encryption in Gmail. A beta version is thus available, Google announced on Friday, December 16, 2022.
Beta feature…
When enabled, the option will encrypt sensitive email body information, as well as attachments. Only data from header (header) will be transmitted in plain text on the Internet (sender’s and recipient’s email addresses, date and time, subject, etc.). The contents of the email body will be stored on Google’s servers without the possibility of reading by a third party (government, hacker during a data leak, etc.).
“Clients retain control of encryption keys and the identity service to access those keys”, says Google. To activate this option, the user will simply have to click on a small padlock (in the web version of Gmail) and the email will be automatically encrypted.
The feature is currently in beta for Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard users, according to Bleeping Computer who relays the information.
To have the beta test version of the encryption, Google requires prior activation of the service before January 20, 2023 via an online form.
…and reserved for professional accounts
This function reserved for professional users of Google must be activated beforehand by the administrator of the company account. Activation will be possible in the administrator console, under Security > Access and data control > Client encryption.
Possibility is given to users of a company to use encryption internally (domain of the company) or externally with other services such as those of Microsoft or Apple. The function is enabled by the S/MIME cryptographic standard on which Gmail’s encryption is based, explains Ross Richendrfer, Google spokesperson to our colleagues at The Verge.
“Client-side encryption helps strengthen the privacy of your data while meeting a wide range of data sovereignty and compliance needs”assures Google, which recalls that the function is already available in Google Drive, Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, Google Meet and Google Calendar in its beta version.