Encrypted e-mail has flopped in the enterprise. More than five years after standards were created and vendors rushed to support them, virtually no one secures e-mail today, despite widespread concerns about prying eyes and corrupted data.. . .
Encrypted e-mail has flopped in the enterprise. More than five years after standards were created and vendors rushed to support them, virtually no one secures e-mail today, despite widespread concerns about prying eyes and corrupted data.

"It's almost like a black plague would have to occur before there would be a grass-roots swing toward using secure e-mail," says Joey Lawrence, a senior consultant for the Privacy Council, a Dallas company that helps companies understand and manage privacy issues. Lawrence says the number of clients that ask about encryption is close to zero. "Even in healthcare, which has the highest need for encrypted communication, there is still rampant unprotected e-mail."

Some industries, such as defense and financial, require technology to meet privacy and confidentiality mandates. But otherwise, use of encrypted e-mail has hit a virtual dead end.

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