Preserving the confidentiality of electronic mail messages is one of the most vexing issues facing security professionals today.  This is surprising, given the fact that e-mail has been around for over thirty years, but several technology false starts have prevented the widespread adoption of a standard method for securely exchanging messages.  Enterprises seeking to compensate for this are forced to adopt proprietary solutions that may be awkward for message senders and/or recipients.

This article examines the two primary security issues that affect the exchange of confidential information over e-mail: securing client/server communications and securing the transmission of messages as they travel over the Internet.  Technologies exist to address both of these issues in a cost-effective and user-friendly fashion.