Yahoo Inc said it will join Google Inc to create a
secure email system by next year.
Yahoo Inc said it will join Google Inc to create a
secure email system by next year that could make it nearly impossible for
hackers or government officials to read users’ messages, The Wall Street
Journal reported.
The move comes as large technology companies unite
to beef up their defenses against government intrusion and hacking, most
notably after Edward Snowden exposed last year the National Security Agency’s
mass surveillance programs.
Google, Microsoft and Facebook moved to encrypt
internal traffic after revelations by Snowden that the spy agency hacked into
their connections overseas. The companies have also smaller adjustments that
together make sweeping collection more difficult.
Yahoo has altered its email process so users
adopting encryption type messages in a separate window, preventing even Yahoo
from reading the messages as they are typed, the Journal said.
Yahoo officials could not be reached immediately for
comment.
On Thursday, Google said it was encouraging website
developers to make their sites secure for visitors by using site encryption as
one of the factors to determine search ranking.
