Using TLS encryption

Although e-mail is an integral part of modern business, it still relies on insecure transport protocols that were designed before anyone could predict how important e-mail would become. However, network administrators can find some security and privacy assurance in the Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption and authentication protocol.

TLS is a variation of the tried-and-true Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol that we use to protect Web traffic. Using TLS to encrypt communications between two e-mail gateways has a number of security benefits. First, each mail server authenticates to the other, making it harder to send spoofed e-mail. Second, the contents of the e-mails sent between the two servers are encrypted, protecting them from prying eyes while in transit. Finally, the encryption of the conversation between the two hosts makes it exceedingly difficult for an attacker to tamper with the e-mail's contents. TLS is certainly no panacea, but it can add an additional layer of security to your e-mail infrastructure wit

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Once you have implemented TLS on your mail server, you can also use it to address other mail-related issues, such as who has permission to relay mail through your server and which mail servers are allowed to connect to yours.

Although TLS is not perfect and it addresses only some of e-mail's security problems, it is a good e-mail security option that is based on non-bleeding edge technology. If your concerns about e-mail transfers fit the point-to-point model that TLS addresses, it can be an excellent way to add security to your e-mail.

About the Author
Al Berg, CISSP, CISM is the Director of Information Security for Liquidnet (www.liquidnet.com). Liquidnet is the leading electronic venue for institutional block equities trading. According to INC. magazine in 2004, Liquidnet was the fastest growing privately held financial services company in the US and the 4th fastest growing privately held company in the US across all industries.

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