Gmail's 21st Birthday Present: Simplified End-to-End Encrypted Emails for Enterprises

Gmail Simplifies End-to-End Encrypted Emails

For its 21st anniversary, Gmail is introducing a new feature to simplify the process of sending end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) emails for companies in regulated industries. The aim is to allow enterprise users to send E2EE messages to any user on any email inbox with minimal effort.

Current Challenges

• Complexity: Setting up S/MIME and proprietary solutions requires significant IT resources, including managing certificates and deploying them to each user.
• User Inconvenience: End users need to verify if both parties have S/MIME configured and exchange certificates before encrypted emails can be sent.

New Solution

• Client Side Encryption (CSE): Available on the Workspace Enterprise Plus tier with the Assured Controls add-on, CSE uses encryption keys controlled by the customer, not Google servers, enhancing data privacy and security.
• User Experience: Users simply tap a lock icon to encrypt an email, which turns blue when active.
• Recipient Handling:
  • Gmail Recipients: Emails are automatically decrypted in the recipient’s inbox.
  • Non-Gmail Recipients: Receive a link to view and reply to the E2EE email in a restricted version of Gmail (a guest Google Workspace account).

Rollout Plan

• Beta Access: Companies can sign up today to send E2EE emails within their organization.
• Gmail Inbox Expansion: Sending to any Gmail inbox will be available in the coming weeks.
• Universal Support: Later this year, support for sending E2EE emails to any email inbox via link or invite.

Additional Features

• Classification Labels
• CSE Default Mode
• Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
• New Threat Protection AI Model