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Jason Ginsberg / 1.13.2023Home / Email Security
Decrypting the truth—how secure are emails, and what safety measures are essential?
How secure are emails? It depends on your perception of privacy—learn all the basics and find out how a proper encryption method can up your online safety.
Email security may seem confusing, especially to an average user. They might be familiar with the importance of having full control over their personal data but are not sure what level of safety email services typically provide, or what steps they should take to strengthen it.Security of online communication can be achieved by encryption. It may be the front and center of email security, but not all emails are encrypted by default. While many services provide email encryption to a certain degree, not all methods are as secure as you think. In this article, we discuss everything you should know as a user, including:
Go for the first-hand experience—sign up for Skiff Mail and start using the available services. Skiff products can be accessed via:
You can upgrade to Skiff’s paid Essential, Pro, and Business plans for more aliases, storage, custom domains, and business-specific features. Creating a protected Skiff account is simple—here are the basic steps:
- How secure are emails?
- What role does encryption play in keeping emails safe?
- Which email service provider has superior security standards?
Are emails secure, and why does it matter?
Emails are like postcards in electronic form. Consider this—if Alice sends a private message to Bob, she’s not conveying it to him directly but using an established channel for the service. The trouble is that the email service provider typically has access to the content of the delivered message.Another reason for concern is the fact that the message travels from server to server, crossing firewalls and other layers before popping up in the recipient’s inbox. Without the right security protocols, the message can be intercepted at any node. The consequences can be mild to severe, depending on the level of a security breach and the email provider used.Scanning emails for personalized ads is the most common example of an online privacy violation, and it’s not something everyone is worried about.Trading user data or shopping preferences for free services may seem more like a business model than a threat, but you’re still risking the exposure of personal data—and that is never wise.We keep using Gmail and Outlook because we have built our lives around these services, to the point that we feel handicapped if we don’t exist in their ecosystem. The security issues with popular email service providers (ESPs) include:- Not being aware of compromising events—Users often have no idea whether their data is sold to third parties. There’s also the issue of hackers stealing your identity and auctioning it off on the dark web
- Having no control over security—You can’t protect yourself every time network servers face digital attacks. If your emails contain any sensitive data, you can never have peace of mind without proper protection
Is an email secure for sensitive data?
Protecting sensitive data in emails used to be the concern of businesses and government organizations only, but not anymore. Without a secure email solution, anyone could be one attack away from identity theft or a confidential data leak. It doesn’t matter how many antivirus software or phishing filters you’ve set up on your device—emails travel through various servers where confidential data like Social Security numbers or credit card credentials can easily be compromised.Most email vendors today encrypt messages to keep them safe from prying eyes, but not all methods are foolproof. The only way to ensure complete security of online communication is to choose a provider that offers end-to-end encryption (E2EE), so let's understand how.How does encryption play into email safety?
Email encryption is an authentication method that involves scrambling the content of a message into an unintelligible format. Without the decryption key, no one can access your data.While it is designed to keep your content safe from unauthorized third parties, the strength and efficiency of the encryption method depend on the setup.Common designs include at-rest and in-transit encryptions, both handled by the service provider—which means you still have no direct control over your account security. Only providers that use end-to-end encryption (E2EE) architecture can keep users safe from insider, database, and network-level breaches.Why E2EE is better than other encryption designs
E2EE is better understood when compared with other encryption types. Let’s take a quick look:- Encryption in transit—It involves encrypting the data during transmission. Many popular vendors, including Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo, have Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols in place. The participating servers create and hold the decryption keys, so the data gets decrypted when it reaches the provider’s servers, making it vulnerable to hackers or insider threats
- Encryption at rest—Encryption at rest means the data remains protected while it’s housed on a digital medium, such as an archive or cloud storage. Once again, the service provider is in charge of decryption, so a network security or insider breach can lead to someone stealing your decryption key and accessing your messages
- End-to-end encryption (E2EE)—This setup entails data being encrypted at the point of origin and decrypted when it reaches the end user. The user encrypts and decrypts the messages and stores the decryption key on their device, so nobody, including the service provider, can read or tamper with the emails
How is E2EE designed?
The location and ownership of encryption and decryption keys are crucial components of E2EE protocols. The following table explains how it’s done:| Stage | Execution |
| Sending a message | The sender encrypts the message using an encryption key before it’s sent |
| Transmission | The message travels in encrypted form as no one on the network has the key to decrypt it |
| Receipt | The recipient uses the decryption key to decrypt the message. The key is created and stored by the user and never gets shared over the network, ensuring complete privacy of your online correspondence |
Why finding efficient E2EE email services is a struggle
While E2EE sounds like the ultimate solution to online privacy issues, it was hard to implement in the past due to its complex encryption structure.Older E2EE models like PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) were popular as software products, but they have become largely outdated because of the discovery of new encryption standards.Many existing E2EE-enabled systems provide the desired safety but are usually too technical for an average user. Their efficiency also comes with:- Downgraded user interface
- High pricing
- Limited features
Skiff—the E2EE power package you have been waiting for!
Skiff is a full-featured productivity suite that implements the end-to-end encryption model across all products, providing the ultimate safety of your online communication. It provides high-speed performance and supreme security standards rolled into one.The platform delivers four core services accessible to all users for free—Skiff Mail, Skiff Pages, Skiff Drive, and Skiff Calendar:| Product | Summary |
| Skiff Mail | Skiff Mail offers a minimalistic, intuitive, and easy-to-organize interface backed with E2EE protection. You can use the flagship product for a wide range of functions, including customizing your inbox, setting up custom domains, adding labels, creating aliases, importing emails from other accounts, adding signatures |
| Skiff Pages | Skiff Pages is a private E2EE document creation and collaboration platform that serves as an alternative to online shared workspace platforms. You can create pages, notes, and wikis and take advantage of the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) integration to keep your files on a decentralized storage |
| Skiff Drive | Skiff Drive enables you to store docs, images, audio and video files, and sheets on the cloud in an E2EE-secured and organized manner. Only you (and your desired collaborators) will have the decryption key to access the drive |
| Skiff Calendar | Skiff Calendar integrates with Skiff Mail by default and keeps all (inbound and outbound) engagements end-to-end encrypted within the parties involved |
How secure are Skiff email and related services?
Skiff’s vision is to promote efficient privacy-focused communications via a transparent service model. It’s an open-source platform, and anyone can access the code to see how the E2EE model works.Users are allowed zero-trust privacy, meaning Skiff cannot access any user data. Check out the Skiff Whitepaper to get complete details about the E2EE cryptosystem.Skiff’s privacy module is further strengthened by:
- Zero-knowledge login—Skiff doesn't collect personal data for logins, including name, phone number, and device identifiers—even your password is never sent over the network
- Crypto integration feature—Skiff is the go-to platform for privacy-focused crypto enthusiasts. If you already have a MetaMask or Brave account, you can use it to set up your Skiff Mail account. You can even pay for Skiff privately using different currencies
- Two-factor authentication (2FA) option—Users can upgrade their login security by adding a 2FA step with the help of QR codes and OTPs
Take advantage of Skiff’s generous free plan
The platform offers a packed free plan (not a free trial!) that’s one of the most generous in the E2EE industry—check out the major features in the table below:| Features | Skiff free plan |
| Drive storage | 10 GB |
| Sending messages (limit) | 200/day |
| Custom signatures | |
| Auto reply | |
| Schedule or undo send | |
| Email + doc text search | |
| E2EE link sharing | |
| Document limit | Unlimited |
| Folders and labels limit | 5 |
| IPFS storage | Available |
| Skiff.com aliases | 4 |
- Go to the Skiff Mail signup page
- Set up your email name, password, and an account recovery method
- Customize your account or start exploring other features
Stay realistic—know what E2EE cannot protect against
E2EE is a near-impenetrable armor on the network, but can’t protect you if your device gets hacked. That’s why privacy-first users should use antivirus software, device locks, and other mechanisms to ensure the complete safety of their data. You should also be careful when receiving emails from untrustworthy sources—they can be covert phishing or malware attacks.Skiff enables you to enjoy better resistance against common spam mail and hacking. E2EE remains an undeniable force in encryption that is slowly but surely changing the landscape of email security. Make the transition to Skiff and witness the safety revolution first-hand!Related articles
