Google answers paranoid Gmail users’ prayers with browser extension

Gmail users a bit on the paranoid side may have their prayers answered by Google, which has come out with a tool to provide yet another layer of security for their mail.

Product manager for security and privacy Stephan Somogyi said the tool, "End-to-End," is a Chrome extension providing additional security.

"'End-to-end' encryption means data leaving your browser will be encrypted until the message’s intended recipient decrypts it, and that similarly encrypted messages sent to you will remain that way until you decrypt them in your browser," Somogyi said in a blog post.

Also, Somogyi said Google is releasing code for a new Chrome extension that uses OpenPGP, an open standard supported by existing encryption tools.

Somogyi said Google has been working to make sure its users' data is safe, citing Gmail's support for HTTPS when it first launched.

Gmail now always uses an encrypted connection when a user checks or sends email via a browser, Somogyi said.

For now, Somogyi said the extension would not be immediately available, though Google is releasing the code so the community can "test and evaluate it."

"Once we feel that the extension is ready for primetime, we’ll make it available in the Chrome Web Store, and anyone will be able to use it to send and receive end-to-end encrypted emails through their existing web-based email provider," Somogyi said.

Meanwhile, The Next Web noted work on the new extension is covered by Google's Vulnerability Reward Program.

This means financial awards are in store for those who find security bugs in Google code.

"Security researchers, it’s time to get cracking," it said. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News