Encryption and cryptographic software has been used in many different ways to make systems more secure.

1. Email Encryption
2. File Encryption

There are many programs out there that will help, but these programs are good and a great place to start. They have the added benefit of both being free with source code available.

Can encryption stop people from accessing my data?

Encryption simply makes it more difficult for people to access very imperative information, like passwords or sensitive data in a file. Encryption mechanisms have been cracked when the technique of encryption is understood by hackers and is easy to break.

What about email encryption?

It should be pointed out that email is extremely less secure than regular snail mail for two reasons: first, electronic data can be accessed without difficulty over an Internet connection and secondly, it is really easy to copy.

What is the procedure in encrypting my email?

There are several programs that can help you encrypt your email. A very popular one is PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) or its Gnu offshoot GPG.

PGP http://www.pgpi.org/ self-describes itself this way: This "is a program that gives your electronic mail something that it otherwise doesn't have: Privacy. It does this by encrypting your mail so that nobody but the intended person can read it. When the message is encrypted, it looks like a pointless mishmash of random characters. PGP has established itself of being quite capable of resisting even the most complicated forms of analysis aimed at reading the encrypted data."

So, why should I bother to encrypt my files?

If you have financial data with vital information such as social security numbers, email addresses, account numbers and passwords, then you leave yourself open up to losing very valuable data. Most corporate Internet security employees will indicate to the prevalent theft of very valuable information.