• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechChanging Face of Security

Facebook doubles down on email encryption

Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
September 22, 2015, 5:37 PM ET
symbolic photo saving data, lock and key on a keyboard
(GERMANY OUT) symbolic photo saving data, lock and key on a keyboard (Photo by Wodicka/ullstein bild via Getty Images)Photograph by Getty Images

Facebook has begun supporting new encryption options, the company announced on Tuesday.

The social network first began allowing users to receive encrypted email notifications in June. At that time, the company adopted OpenPGP, a decades-old encryption technology that helps keep messages between correspondents private. (The tech is secure, but infamously difficult to use.)

Now Facebook (FB) has enabled support for elliptic curve cryptography, another flavor of message-scrambling tech. The ends are the same: This crypto—like OpenPGP—armors communications against prying eyes. Say, spies trying to intercept a “password reset” email.

The difference? Elliptic curve crypto uses smaller keys—strings of code needed to lock and unlock messages—than the ones required by the RSA algorithm, which powers PGP encryption. Some people prefer it.

MORE: “Facebook security chief Alex Stamos’ ambitious plan to connect the world—securely”

Elliptic curve cryptography “is now supported in OpenPGP,” Facebook spokesperson Melanie Ensign wrote to Fortune, “and we want people to be able to share and use any valid OpenPGP key that they choose.”

News of the update appeared on the social network’s security blog, a (you guessed it) Facebook page called “Protect the Graph.” Within the post, the company highlights an email service called ProtonMail, which offers a quick way to get up and running with encrypted email notifications from Facebook.

The company has adopted other security measures as well. In 2013, Facebook began encrypting its Internet traffic by default. And last year, the company began supporting a version of its site on the dark web.

For more on Facebook, watch this Fortune video:

 

Subscribe to Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily business-tech newsletter.

About the Author
Robert Hackett
By Robert Hackett
Instagram iconLinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Warner gestures
AIAmerican Politics
New college grad unemployment will spike to 35% in 2 years, senator warns, forcing ‘Dario, Sam’ to quit AI fear-mongering
By Jacqueline MunisMarch 25, 2026
53 minutes ago
Big TechMeta
Meta and YouTube found liable in landmark child social media harm case, ordered to pay $3 million—with punitive damages still to come
By Kaitlyn Huamani, Barbara Ortutay and The Associated PressMarch 25, 2026
1 hour ago
NewslettersCIO Intelligence
The ROI for AI isn’t one-size-fits-all, says data storage CTO
By John KellMarch 25, 2026
2 hours ago
PoliticsDonald Trump
Trump taps Zuckerberg, Huang, Ellison for tech advisory council—but excludes Musk and Altman
By Sharon GoldmanMarch 25, 2026
2 hours ago
EuropeLetter from London
Rishi Sunak is giving advice to CEOs on AI. Here are his golden rules
By Kamal AhmedMarch 25, 2026
3 hours ago
SuccessEntrepreneurs
‘Wealth doesn’t erase your problems—it magnifies them’: One serial entrepreneur’s brutally honest take on making it
By Sydney LakeMarch 25, 2026
6 hours ago

Most Popular

Magazine
The youngest-ever female CEO of a Fortune 500 company is fighting Trump's cuts to keep Medicaid strong
By Fortune EditorsMarch 24, 2026
1 day ago
Commentary
The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. The media missed it
By Fortune EditorsMarch 23, 2026
2 days ago
Success
Palantir’s billionaire CEO says only two kinds of people will succeed in the AI era: trade workers — ‘or you’re neurodivergent’
By Fortune EditorsMarch 24, 2026
1 day ago
Energy
Nobel laureate Paul Krugman calls it 'treason': $580 million in suspicious oil futures traded minutes before Trump's Iran reversal
By Fortune EditorsMarch 24, 2026
1 day ago
Success
JPMorgan has started monitoring the keystrokes, video calls, and meetings of its junior investment bankers—and they say it's for employee well-being
By Fortune EditorsMarch 24, 2026
1 day ago
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of March 24, 2026
By Fortune EditorsMarch 24, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.