Email - Documents for Email Encrytion | Information Systems and Services
Documents for Email Encryption
Overview | Laptops | Phones | Documents for Email
Unencrypted email is not a secure way to transfer sensitive information regardless of the email solution or where that email solution may be hosted (either 'in the cloud' or 'on premises'). DCU's email solution, provided by Google, is not encrypted. Therefore, in common with most commercial email solutions, all data in an unencrypted email can be intercepted as it is sent over the internet.
ISS does not support encryption solutions that encrypt the data held in the header or body of emails as we do not feel that such solutions strike the appropriate security/usability balance for DCU. ISS will continue to monitor all developments within this area and welcomes suggestions and feedback from the DCU community in this regard.
ISS does support the encryption of attachments and we have outlined instructions on how to do this below. If you choose to encrypt attachments please pay particular attention to not including sensitive information in the body of your email.
Never share the encryption password by email even to a different email address. We suggest that you share the password by telephone, in person or by SMS. Please note that ISS will not have access or the ability to retrieve or reset the password you create. You should give consideration to backing up the data you propose to encrypt.
If encrypting attachments by any of the means proposed below is not an option for you, please speak to us and we will be happy to help.
We offer two supported options for encrypting attachments:
- Using the in-built features of Microsoft Office 2010 and above;
- Compressing the files using '7-Zip' software and encrypting the compressed file.
- Microsoft Office 2010 (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Office 2010 can be installed as a bundle from Zenworks, (http://www.dcu.ie/iss/ad-migration/Zenworks.shtml).
This article explains how to encrypt and add a password to files in Microsoft Office 2010. This option will not appear in any version older than Office 2010. The process is consistent across the Microsoft Office suite of products (MS Word 2010, MS Excel 2010, MS PowerPoint 2010 etc.).
- '7-Zip' Compression Software
7z is an archive format, providing high compression ratio. 7-Zip supports encryption with AES-256 algorithm.
The software is available for free download from www.7-zip.org/download.html
Please remember:
Never email the encryption password.
If you forget your password, ISS can neither reset your password nor recover your files.