Thought Winter 2008

Transport Layer Security (TLS) E-Mail Encryption

E-mail

J.P. Morgan recently launched an initiative enabling clients to take advantage of new e-mail encryption capabilities to help protect confidential data.

Transport Layer Security (TLS), which is similar to Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption, is accepted globally and is currently available on most (if not all) e-mail servers. There is also a growing trend among financial institutions and other companies toward its adoption. J.P. Morgan has employed this higher standard of encryption over the last few years, but is now seeking to widen its use among the firm's clients.

For clients set up on TLS, the encryption comes without any change to their current experience with e-mail, as its inclusion is seamless and behind the scenes. Additionally, all e-mails sent by J.P. Morgan are sent via "enforced" encryption, which helps prevent interception of any sensitive client information by an outside party.

In the United States, regulators such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Federal Reserve and Federal Trade Commission may eventually mandate encryption, and could levy fines if encryption is not used and privacy is compromised as a result of a breach.

Implementing TLS is an initial step toward addressing these evolving regulatory requirements, and goes hand in hand with J.P. Morgan's firmwide commitment to proactive risk management.

We are rolling out TLS to clients receiving e-mails from J.P. Morgan, and will be reaching out to all clients to deploy TLS.

For more information, please visit our Website at www.jpmorgan.com/wss