Google has made some changes to Gmail today, offering secure encryption at every turn. Starting today, any email that passes through a Gmail server will receive an encrypted HTTPS connection, making it harder to intercept and read. What prompted all this? You guessed it — the NSA.
Google said this move was “something we made a top priority after last summer’s revelations.” Though they’ve supported HTTPS since 2010, the encrypted connection is new. In addition to the secure connection with Gmail, any email message that passes through Google’s various data centers will be encrypted as well. Google is up front about saying this move affects “100 percent” of the emails you send and receive via their servers.
In addition to making sure our Gmail is secure, Google also notes their uptime for Gmail was 99.978% in 2013. According to their numbers, that’s less than 2 hours of downtime per user for the entire year — an impressive statistic. Google is also reminding us that their team is watching the servers 24/7 for issues, and jump on the case if something happens.
Google has done their part, and are encouraging each of us to do ours. They also suggest we create strong passwords and 2-step verification for our devices. By safeguarding your devices to compliment Google’s work on Gmail, it’ll be tough for prying eyes to check your Gmail.
