Android Encryption and Spam Messaging: IT Rewind Episode 28
For more, head to: http://it4msp.com/1BOqzfD After pledging to increase security, Google is allowing manufacturers to decide whether or not to enable encryp...

By: Continuum Managed Services

Continued here:
Android Encryption and Spam Messaging: IT Rewind Episode 28 - Video

Virtru - Simple Email Encryption
Simple Email Encryption for Gmail, Yahoo, and More! - Encrypts and protects emails forever - Control sensitive information. Revoke messages anytime - Easy to...

By: Virtru

Read this article:
Virtru - Simple Email Encryption - Video

Yahoo released the source code for a plugin that will enable end-to-end encryption of email messages, a planned data-security improvement prompted by disclosures of U.S. National Security Agency snooping.

The company is asking security experts to look at its code, published on GitHub, and report vulnerabilities, wrote Alex Stamos, Yahoos chief information security officer, in a blog post.

The plugin should be ready by year end, wrote Stamos, who gave a presentation on Sunday at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas.

Yahoo and Google have been collaborating to make their email systems compatible with end-to-end encryption, a technology based on the public-key cryptography standard OpenPGP. End-to-end encryption is not widely used, as it can be difficult for non-technical users to set up.

The technology encrypts a messages contents so only the sender and recipient can read it. A messages subject line is not encrypted, however, and neither is the routing metadata, which cant be scrambled since it is needed in order to send a message.

A video included in the post by Stamos showed how someone could set up an encrypted message much faster using the companys plugin versus using GPG Suite, a software package for sending encrypted email on Apples OS X.

Yahoo vowed to improve its data security after documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden showed the spy agency had penetrated the companys networks as well as those of many others, including Google.

Email encryption is one of a number of security improvements Yahoo and Google have undertaken.

In March 2014, Yahoo began encrypting traffic flowing between its data centers after information from Snowden indicated the NSA had access to those connections.

Google also encrypts connections between its data centers. Like Yahoo, the company has published its Chrome extension for end-to-end encryption on GitHub as well.

See the article here:
Yahoo puts email encryption plugin source code up for review

Keeping your e-mail messages super private can be a pain. Most free e-mail providers automatically provide SSL encryption for Web mail users -- meaningdata can be seen by the service, as well as the senders and recipients of messages. But end-to-end encryption, a feature which locks up message contents so that only the sender and receiver can read them, can be a much more cumbersome process for e-mail, often involving specialized software and looking up encryption keys.

The whole thing can be so tricky that very few people actually use it-- or if they do, it's used only for the most sensitive of messages.

But in the wake of reports from Edward Snowden about the National Security Agency's access to data held by tech giants, many of those companies have pursued technological solutions to shore up customers trust, including an expansion of end-to-end encryption. Google announced in June that it was working on a Chrome plug-in to provide end-to-end for Gmail users. Yahoo, too, is working on end-to-end.

In August, Yahoo information security chief Alex Stamos announced that the company would release its own version of the plug-in for all Yahoo Mail users in 2015 -- and it will work with Google's plug-in, which matters because both sides of an exchange need to be on board for end-to-end to work. Given the sizable user base of Gmail and the billion-plus Mail users Yahoo claims, that could mean a lot more peoplewho will suddenly have an easier way to communicate more securely.

[Read: How to set up your own questionably secure home e-mail system, just like Hillary Clinton]

And now, Yahoo is ready to talk about its progress.

"What we're trying to do at Yahoo is build our products so they're safe and trustworthy, not just secure," Stamos told The Washington Post in an interview. That means making tools that are both simple enough for everyday users and strong enough to protect those facing more advanced threats, such as journalists and activists working in areas where freedom of expression is restricted, he said.

This ease of use could be especially important for Yahoo, whose Web mail service is practically a generation older than some competitors. "Mail is one of the cornerstones of the Yahoo experience. It's one of the ways we engage with some of the oldest and most dedicated Yahoo users," Stamos said.

Getting users to take an extra step to secure their messages may be difficult if it takes more than a few clicks, which is one of the reasons Yahoo is working to make it that easy.

During a presentation at the South by Southwest conference Sunday, Stamos showed off a video that compared getting set up for end-to-end encryption using the Yahoo Mail plug-in versus a more traditional method. In the video, the Yahoo plugin user was sending the first encrypted message a minute in -- and then spending the rest of the video looking up cat pictures. (Predictably, on Yahoo-owned Tumblr.)

Follow this link:
Yahoo’s plan to get Mail users to encrypt their e-mail: Make it simple

Summary:The web portal giant wants encryption in everyone's hands by the end of the year.

After the company was thrown under the bus by the National Security Agency surveillance disclosures, Yahoo is following up on its promise to fight back.

At SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, Yahoo chief information security officer Alex Stamos confirmed the company will introduce end-to-end encryption to its Yahoo Mail service by the end of this year.

"Our users are much more conscious of the need to stay secure online," Stamos said in a blog post. "We've heard you loud and clear."

Its goal is to simplify encryption for the vast majority by streamlining it as a one-click feature as part of the browser. The encryption plugin allows users to encrypt, decrypt, sign, and verify messages in the browser using existing OpenPGP technology, which has been tried and tested over more than a decade.

OpenPGP remains the most popular (and reportedly uncrackable) email-based encryption service, but it's infamously difficult to use.

Yahoo teamed up with Google to offer a browser-based encryption plugin after both companies were hit by allegations that the US government had intercepted their data by tapping into datacenter links.

The plugin works by encrypting email messages on a person's computer before it travels across Yahoo's networks, foiling any now-public program that allowed messages to be intercepted.

The plugin is now available on code-sharing site Github, and is available for scrutiny by developers and security experts.

Researchers who find bugs or flaws in the software will be eligible to claim rewards as part of its bug bounty program.

Read the rest here:
Yahoo unveils sneak peek at end-to-end email encryption plugin

(03-16 16:54)

Yahoo says it plans to introduce end to end encryption'' for email this year to boost privacy protection for users. The company demonstrated new security and safety features for its email service at the South by Southwest festival in the US state of Texas. The new security feature aims to allow non-technical people to use encryption with the click of a button after an initial setup of a few minutes. A test or beta version of the encryption software is being released for developers, and it is expected to be rolled out to users in the coming months. Our goal is to have this available by the end of the year,'' Alex Stamos, Yahoo's chief information security officer, told AFP. Anybody who has the ability to write an email should have no problem using our email encryption.'' Privacy advocates say encryption is a valuable tool in thwarting unwanted snooping, but many users find the process daunting, with a need to create complex codes or keys'' for both the sender and receiver. Yahoo has been collaborating with Google and its Gmail service on the encryption, and the standards will be compatible, Stamos said, so Yahoo and Gmail users will be able to send each other encrypted messages with a single click. I think anybody who uses email in the center of our life needs encryption,'' Stamos said. If you send emails to your spouse or your lawyer or family members, you want to have these messages be confidential.''

Originally posted here:
Yahoo promises one-click email encryption