Gmail is one of the most versatile email apps in the business today, with robust web and mobile apps. The email client is expected to get even better in the future as Google rolls outgenerative AI featuresmore broadly throughout its Workspace suite of applications. In the meantime, Gmail continues to pick up new features, like client-side encryption or CSE, which first appeared in a limited betalate last year, with a broader rollout commencing a few months later. Google is now announcing a couple of new additions to client-side encryption within the Gmail app on the web, aimed at helping individuals more easily identify risky attachments and contacts who don’t have CSE enabled.
Google says people who cannot receive encrypted emails will be denoted by a red chip. So if you’re sending an encrypted email to a person who doesn’t have the facility yet, their name(s) will be highlighted in red. The same behavior applies to the CC field, too. According to theWorkspace blog, the email cannot be sent at all until the ineligible recipients are removed from their respective fields.
The second addition to CSE emails is improved identification of files or attachments deemed dangerous. Gmail already blocks certain file extensions within emails, returning theThis message was blocked because its content presents a potential security issueerror message whenever an email contains a file from one of the blocked file types mentioned on Google’ssupport page.
But this new addition takes it a step further, Google says, with the ability to “automatically check” CSE emails you receive for any of the restricted file types. Users won’t be able to download the file, while a banner above the attachments will emphasize why they’re blocked.
CSE in Gmail continues to be limited to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Education Standard accounts, so you can’t access these secure features if you’re on a free account. Eligible users and organizations should find these new additions to client-side encryption in Gmail over the next couple of weeks.
