You are probably familiar with SSL as “https” used on e-commerce and banking sites. But what does SSL mean for your law office?

SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is a method for encrypting and securing data sent from one computer to another. Data sent without SSL can be seen by hackers using “sniffer” software. If a hacking eavesdropper intercepts data sent without SSL from one computer to another, the eavesdropper can read the information in plain text. E-commerce and banking sites use SSL to protect sensitive data like passwords and credit card numbers. GoMatters uses SSL sessions to encrypt data transfers to and from your law office while using GoMatters.

Data transmissions to and from GoMatters are secure, but your law office data sent to other computers over the internet can be intercepted by eavesdroppers and read by a third party unless you are taking steps to properly encrypt your data.

Your law office email is one place where you can make an easy change to better secure your data by using SSL. If you are using Gmail for your law office email, make sure you force Gmail to use SSL by turning on the “Enable SSL” option under your”Domain settings” panel. Checking the Gmail SSL option will force all connections to Gmail from your office accounts to use SSL. If you don’t have access to your Gmail domain settings, you can simply type an “s” after the “http” in your browser and load the page. Placing the “s” after the “http” and reloading the page will shift you to Gmail’s SSL for that session.

If you have your own domain name for your law firm and use a hosted email service, contact the host about installing an SSL certificate for your domain. Some hosts offer an SSL option for your web email and you simply have to visit the “https” URL of your web mail address.