Normally, when you are drafting an email, the communications with your own server can be trusted. It is likely using SSL / HTTPS and the session is secure. But, as soon as you hit the send button, if any of the recipients are external, that message is sent in the clear for anyone to read along the way. It is also kept clear in all recipients inboxes waiting for anyone with access to read it.
Basically, Enlocked is integrated into either: your browser (like Chrome, Firefox or IE), or your email client running on your pc (like Outlook), or an app on your mobile device (like an iPhone, or Android). Instead of using the standard send routine, when you use “Send Secure”, Enlocked first uses your credentials to encrypt the message using our cloud-based servers, and place it in your outbox on your behalf. Your standard email transport takes care of sending the now unreadable email the rest of the way.
When receiving an encrypted message, if you have the Enlocked plug-in or app for your environment, we detect the MIME-type of the message, and reverse the process. Since you are using your email client, we can use these credentials to authenticate you, decrypt the message and then display it on your device. First time users receiving an encrypted message get a header telling them how to get the Enlocked module for their system, or can use the web-based Enlocked Anywhere version.
Enlocked works behind the scenes to ensure clean and simple use of the service. All you have to do is download the appropriate app or plug-in and start using it. No registration, no separate logins, no special email addresses, no keys to exchange – just a "Send Secure" button.

One of the advantages of using a system like Enlocked, is that the only one able to read your secured messages is you! Of course, we've shown how now the middlemen along the way can no longer read your message as it traverses the Internet, but anyone with access to your or recipients mailboxes and even your email provider - whether it is Microsoft, Google, Yahoo! are unable to read the messages on their own servers.

The systems at Enlocked only have access to your messages for the short time we are encrypting or decrypting them, and then our software instantly removes any copies. We follow the highest level of security standards to ensure that our servers have best-in-class protection from any threats, and our own security professionals are trusted by 1,000's of companies around the world.

Besides the encryption algorithms, Enlocked uses 3 open technologies to implement our solution.

The first is OpenID, which is the way you are able to use our service without logging in or registering. If you use Yahoo! or Gmail, in a matter of speaking you already have an OpenID identity. You sign-in to your email to access it, and from that point on your identity is established. During the Enlocked installation, you will be asked to allow Enlocked to view your details (email and name) and then whenever you are authenticated, your identity flows through Enlocked.

The second technology is OAuth, which is a way for Enlocked to use your email on your behalf. When you use Enlocked for the first time, your mail provider asks your permission to allow Enlocked to access your email behind the scenes. This is how we get your draft message, encrypt it, and send it. Don't worry - we never have access to your actual email password, and if you decide to disable Enlocked at some point in the future, we can't ever get that access back.
A side benefit of this approach, is that if your device is ever lost or stolen, by simply changing your email password, the encrypted messages are no longer readable on your system. Only once you've re-authenticated from that device will decryption work again.

The third is PGP, which is a standard for email encryption. Our encrypted emails conform to the PGP/MIME standard and if you already have setup a working PGP infrastructure you can continue using your own key and your own infrastructure for decrypting your received encrypted emails.