Google is counting encryption even higher with websites, which is why you now see more websites with HTTPS in the address bar. Yahoo Mail is following suit, and while they already encrypt your sign in page they don’t protect emails being sent with a high level of encryption, but this is going to change to both the online Yahoo Mail and apps for Android and iOS.
This end-to-end encryption will not be implemented until some time in 2015, but once it does will make full use of OpenPGP to encrypt messages. Yahoo is to use a similar method as Google does with the alpha stage End-to-End Chrome extension, although changes will be made so that it plays nice with Yahoo Mail rather than Gmail.
@tankredhase We have a fork of Google's plugin. Mobile app will have it native. @DrewHintz @bcrypt
— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) August 7, 2014
It comes as no surprise to us that Yahoo wishes to improve its encryption, especially after the recent sign in security issues, which they seem to have gotten on top of, although for how long we do not know. It is not just the web-based version of Yahoo Mail that will be getting a much-needed improvement to its security, as the same system is to be used on the mobile version as well, which is an obvious move seeing as though more of us are using mobile apps to sign into our emails.
While it is good to see that the likes of Yahoo is taking security seriously, it is uncertain just how many Yahoo Mail users will wish to use the new option, details of why this is can be better explained in an insightful article from PC World.
We can understand in that article why many users will be apprehensive to allow Yahoo to control a new feature like this that requires them to hold on to encryption keys because they could be compelled to share them with law enforcement, although it could be a better alternative than users keeping hold of them.
Let’s hope is not too little too late because we have already seen people leave Yahoo Mail after recent problems, and as such have now forwarded their email to other services. Having said that, knowing that there will soon be a higher level of security, it can only mean a good thing right?
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