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Posts Tagged ‘tls’

Are you Minimizing your Risk by using the Next Generation of Opt In Email Encryption?

Friday, September 11th, 2015

We have long held that leaving it to each sender/employee to properly enable encryption for each sensitive message (a.k.a “Opt In Encryption”) is too risky.  Why? Any mistake or oversight immediately equals a breach and liability.

Instead, LuxSci has always promoted use of “Opt Out Encryption,” in which the account default is to encrypt everything unless the sender specifically indicates that the message is not sensitive.  The risk with Opt Out Encryption is very much smaller than with Opt In.  (See Opt-In Email Encryption is too Risky for HIPAA Compliance).

The problem is: many companies use Opt In Encryption because it is convenient when sending messages without sensitive information — you just send these messages “as usual,”  without forethought.  These companies are trading large risks in return for conveniences.

LuxSci has solved the “Opt In vs. Opt Out” conundrum with its SecureLine Email Encryption Service.  You could say that SecureLine enables the “Next Generation” of Opt In Email Encryption — combining both usability and security.

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Tags: breach, compliance, email encryption, glba, hipaa, opt in, opt out, pgp, s/mime, secureline, tls, TLS-Only
Posted in LuxSci Library: HIPAA, LuxSci Library: Security and Privacy
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Stopping Forged Email 4: Your Last Resorts

Wednesday, March 4th, 2015

In previous posts we have examined how hackers and spammers can send forged email and how it can be extremely difficult to differentiate these messages from legitimate messages.  We have looked at the various common techniques for anti-fraud such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC and seen that, while these technologies can help a lot, they all have limitations; they all require strict and proper setup by the owner of the purported sender’s domain, and they must be well supported by your own spam filtering system.

Yet even with these technologies, it’s not hard in many cases for a determined attacker to send you a forged, fraudulent email message that still looks and feels legitimate.

What else can you do to validate email messages and protect yourself from phishing or social engineering attacks?

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Tags: digital signatures, pgp, s/mime, security, smtp tls, tls
Posted in LuxSci Library: The Technical Side of Email
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How to Tell Who Supports SMTP TLS for Email Transmission

Tuesday, January 27th, 2015

SMTP TLS (Transport Layer Security) is the mechanism by which two email servers, when communicating, can automatically negotiate an encrypted channel between them so that the emails transmitted are secured from eavesdroppers.

It is becoming ever more important to use a company that supports TLS for email transmission as more and more banks, health care, and other organizations who have any kind of security policy are requiring their vendors and clients to use this type of encryption for emailed communications with them. Additionally, if your email provider supports TLS for email transmission, and you are communicating with people whose providers do also, then you can be reasonably sure that all of the email traffic between you and them will be encrypted.

How do you find out if someone to whom you are sending email uses a provider who’s servers support TLS-encrypted communications? We will take you through the whole process step-by-step, but first let us note some 6 important truths about TLS connection encryption.

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Tags: dig, dns, ehlo, mx records, nslookup, smtp, smtp connection, starttls, tls, tls support
Posted in LuxSci Library: Security and Privacy, Popular Posts
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Do you need a VPN for Secure Email in a Wireless Hotspot?

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

LuxSci has been approached by many people asking for VPN (Virtual Private Network) services.  When we ask them why, they indicate that they use wireless hotspots (like at Starbucks and other public places) that are insecure and untrusted and they want to be sure that their email is secure and encrypted there.*

Note that even if the hotspot is password protected and “secure”, that does not mean that it is “trusted”.  The hot stop administrators or other users of that hotspot could still try to intercept your Internet traffic.  So, just because it is a “secure” hotspot with the little lock next to it and a password that you must enter, do not assume you are safe at all.

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Tags: eavesdropping, email security, hotspot, imap, pop, secure email, smtp, ssl, tls, vpn, webmail, wireless
Posted in LuxSci Library: Security and Privacy
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Who does not support SMTP TLS for Secure Inbound Email Delivery?

Thursday, November 7th, 2013

We are frequently asked who supports TLS  to secure inbound email delivery. This is especially important for customers who need to be HIPAA-compliant, as email transport encryption over TLS is sufficient for HIPAA-compliant communications to end-users, so long as the TLS is configured to be sufficiently strong.

While it is possible to tell who supports TLS, it is somewhat technical to do it yourself. So, we have assembled a table with many of the most popular free and public email domains in use across the internet. We indicate which currently (as of July 8, 2022) supports SMTP TLS for inbound email.

The results are surprising. A majority of domains these days do support TLS. With Microsoft’s recent TLS implementation on its email domains (hotmail.com/live.com/outlook.com), this rounds out consistent TLS support (for inbound delivery–outbound may or may not be supported) for all of the most popular free email providers (e.g., aol.com, gmail.com yahoo.com, hotmail.com).

Note: lists below have been updated as of 7/8/22.

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Tags: Forced TLS, hipaa, opportunistic, smtp, smtp tls, tls, tls checker
Posted in LuxSci Library: The Technical Side of Email
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