If a company wants to have a secure web site that uses encryption, it needs to obtain a site, or host, certificate. There are two elements that indicate that a site uses: 1. a closed padlock, which, depending on your browser, may be located in the status bar at the bottom of your browser window […]

Email is based on an old set of protocols with few privacy protections. Don’t send your most sensitive information (like your Social Security number) over email if possible. Use encrypted chat or a voice call instead.

In very basic terms, encryption is a way to send a message in code. The only person who can decode the message is the person with the correct key; to anyone else, the message looks like a random series of letters, numbers, and characters. Encryption is especially important if you are trying to send sensitive […]

When entering personal information over the Internet, make sure the website is encrypted. Encrypted websites use https://. Look for https:// on every page, not just the login or welcome page. Where an encrypted option is available, you can add an “s” to the “http” address prefix and force the website to display the encrypted version.

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) protects your communications during their entire journeys from sender to recipient. Apps like Signal and WhatsApp, as well as the iMessage and FaceTime services on Apple platforms, deploy E2EE to keep your messages private. Defer to E2EE-protected services whenever possible.

Losing your computer can be as bad as losing your wallet or purse, since it probably contains a lot of extractable personal information, including financial details. Disk encryption eliminates this risk by making all data on your hard drive inaccessible to anyone without a specific key (password). Use FileVault on macOS or BitLocker on Windows […]