Google has enhanced Gmail's security by making HTTPS connections mandatory every time users use their mail.
In a blog post, Gmail's Security Engineering lead, Nicolas Lidzborski, attributed the decision to last summer's revelations about government snooping from the Snowden leaks.
"Starting today, Gmail will always use an encrypted HTTPS connection when you check or send email. Gmail has supported HTTPS since the day it launched, and in 2010 we made HTTPS the default. Today's change means that no one can listen in on your messages as they go back and forth between you and Gmail's servers--no matter if you're using public WiFi or logging in from your computer, phone or table,"
He added, "In addition, every single email message you send or receive--100 percent of them--is encrypted while moving internally. This ensures that your messages are safe not only when they move between you and Gmail's servers, but also as they move between Google's data centers--something we made a top priority after last summer's revelations."
Security experts welcomed the move. CNN Money quoted experts as saying that the move would protect users from all kinds of attackers since HTTPS cannot be breached.
Forbes said that users would be safe even if they used public wifi networks where threat from individual hackers is ever present.
However, doubts were also raised over the move being NSA-proof since the intelligence agencies could always pressure Google through other ways.
"The FBI could still send Google a National Security Letter demanding client records -- something it does all the time," said CNN Money adding that in 2012 alone, around 20,000 requests for user content was made.
Lidzborski's post also stated that Gmail's reliability in 2013 stood at 99.978 percent, a downtime time averaging less than two hours per user during the year.
