Official Blog
Insights from Googlers into our products, technology, and the Google culture
Staying at the forefront of email security and reliability: HTTPS-only and 99.978 percent availability
March 20, 2014
Your email is important to you, and making sure it stays safe and always available is important to us. As you go about your day reading, writing and checking messages, there are tons of security measures running behind the scenes to keep your email safe, secure, and there whenever you need it.
Starting today, Gmail will always use an encrypted HTTPS connection when you check or send email. Gmail has
supported HTTPS
since the day it launched, and in 2010 we made
HTTPS the default
. Today's change means that no one can listen in on your messages as they go back and forth between you and Gmail’s servers—no matter if you're using public WiFi or logging in from your computer, phone or tablet.
In addition, every single email message you send or receive—100 percent of them—is encrypted while moving internally. This ensures that your messages are safe not only when they move between you and Gmail's servers, but also as they move between Google's data centers—something we made a top priority after last summer’s revelations.
Of course, being able to access your email is just as important as keeping it safe and secure. In 2013, Gmail was available 99.978 percent of the time, which averages to less than two hours of disruption for a user for the entire year. Our engineering experts look after Google's services 24x7 and if a problem ever arises, they're on the case immediately. We keep you informed by posting updates on the
Apps Status Dashboard
until the issue is fixed, and we always conduct a full analysis on the problem to prevent it from happening again.
Our commitment to the security and reliability of your email is absolute, and we’re constantly working on ways to improve. You can learn about additional ways to keep yourself safe online, like
creating strong passwords
and
enabling 2-step verification
, by visiting the Security Center:
https://www.google.com/help/security
.
Posted by Nicolas Lidzborski, Gmail Security Engineering Lead
Cross-posted from the
Official Gmail Blog
Labels
accessibility
39
acquisition
26
ads
131
Africa
19
Android
59
apps
417
April 1
4
Asia
39
books + book search
48
commerce
12
computing history
7
crisis response
32
culture
11
developers
120
diversity
33
doodles
65
education and research
144
entrepreneurs at Google
14
Europe
46
faster web
16
free expression
61
google.org
69
googleplus
50
googlers and culture
203
green
101
Latin America
18
maps and earth
192
mobile
125
online safety
19
open source
19
photos
37
policy and issues
139
politics
69
privacy
66
recruiting and hiring
32
scholarships
31
search
502
search quality
24
search trends
118
security
36
small business
31
user experience and usability
41
youtube and video
140
Archive
2015
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2013
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2011
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2010
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2009
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2008
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2007
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2006
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2005
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2004
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Feed
Follow @google
Follow
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.
Follow
