Email Encryption Secure Messenger Data - Review of Comodo Email Encryption Software

Email Encryption Secure Messenger Data - Review of Comodo Email Encryption Software
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Email Encryption and Secure Messenger Data – An Overview

What is the need for email encryption and to secure messenger data? Plenty of people exist out there who may be prying on the outgoing packets from your computer. Any person with some hacking skills can study the pattern of these outgoing data packets to break into the emails or messages originating from your computer. Once accessed, the person may not only read but also make changes to your emails so the contents are modified even before they reach the intended recipient. This is why you need email encryption to secure messenger data.

Plenty of email encryption software exist that can help you with encryption of emails and messages originating from your computer. Once encrypted, your data is safe even if somebody accesses the data packets as she or he cannot interpret the contents. Different software for email encryption/secure messenger data use different encryption algorithms making it difficult for hackers to read and/or change your messages without the knowledge of the recipient(s).

The next section reviews one of the famous yet cheap software for email encryption to secure messenger data – the Comodo SecureMail Software.

Review of Comodo Email Encryption Software

Comodo is one of the leading companies involved in design and distribution of Computer Security products. Starting with antivirus software, they have designed almost everything that helps keep your computing safe. Some of their most famous software is Comodo Internet Security Suite that contains an antivirus, antispyware, and a firewall; a standalone antivirus; a standalone firewall; BoClean, a real time antimalware solution; and Comodo Verification Engine that warns you when you are about to visit a malicious website. These are just some of the products from Comodo. Another famous product from Comodo is the Comodo System Cleaner, which is also available for free. For full catalog of products, please visit comodo.com.

Coming back to email encryption and securing messenger data, Comodo offers SecureMail, a software that helps you get digital certificates for as low as $12 per year. The Comodo email encryption software is free for personal use. All you have to do is to download the SecureMail software to your PC. The total disk space required by the software is around 11MB. While installing the product, you will be asked if you wish to attach the Comodo email encryption plug in to any of your existing email clients. If you choose to attach the plug-in, the Comodo SecureMail installation automatically configures the email client to use the plug-in for adding digital certificates to outgoing emails and for encrypting the contents of the email. You can change the settings later, using the SecureMail Wizard. Once installed, you have to restart the computer for the settings to take effect.

You can get a digital certificate for each of your email ID by using the Certificates tab of SecureMail Wizard (See Fig 1 below). Just click the Sign Up button and fill in your email ID. You will receive an email containing link to your new digital ID. Signing each email using the digital ID makes sure that your emails reach the recipient(s) as you composed them. If anyone tries to change the data, the recipients are automatically notified.

Fig 1 Comodo SecureMail - Getting a Certificate

The Security tab of SecureMail Wizard helps you configure how the mails will leave your computer. You can adjust the slider (Fig 2 below) to specify if you wish to encrypt the contents of your email and if you wish to add the digital signature to the emails. If you choose to encrypt the emails, the recipient(s) can read the emails either by downloading and installing the free Comodo SecureMail or by using the Comodo Mail reader. In case the recipients do not wish to install Comodo SecureMail, they will receive a link to the encrypted email stored on Comodo Servers. They will also be sent a key by the Comodo SecureMail Plugin. They can access the email by clicking the link. The key is used to decrypt the email message so that they can read it.

Fig 2 Comodo SecureMail - Encryption Settings

Overall, the Comodo SecureMail is one of the cheapest (free for personal use) yet best email encryption software to secure messenger data. We would like to know your experience of the email encryption software. If you have anything to add to our review of Comodo email encryption software, please use the comments section.