How to send sensitive information via email

Following our discussion in our last class about email security, here is an easy way how to protect your data when you send it:

1. You put the confidential information into a document (e.g., a spreadsheet, a zip file, ...)
2. You encrypt the document so that it cannot be viewed without a password (Excel spreadsheets or zip files can be password protected when saved)
3. You email the encrypted document to the recipient as an attachment
4. You communicate the password to the recipient by some other means, preferably not by email, and certainly not by the email to which you attached the encrypted document
5. The recipient uses the password to decrypt the document

An alternative to this is sending the sensitive through a secure send service like OneShar.es that lets you create a secure, self-destructing message.

Lifehacker put together a few idea how to send data more securely from A to B: http://lifehacker.com/5910408/from-saucy-pics-to-passwords-how-to-share-sensitive-information-over-the-internet