20. Chat Encryption
The contents of your instant messages should remain between you and your chat partner. By encrypting your conversations, you can make sure anyone trying to intercept them on their way to and from your contacts will not be able to read their contents.
By default, SHIELD DELUXE 2013 encrypts all your instant messaging chat sessions provided that:
■
Your chat partner has a PCSecurityShield product installed that supports IM
Encryption and IM Encryption is enabled for the instant messaging application used for chatting.
■
You and your chat partner use either Yahoo Messenger or Windows Live (MSN)
Messenger.
Important
SHIELD DELUXE 2013 will not encrypt a conversation if a chat partner uses a webbased chat application such as Meebo, or if one of the chat partners uses Yahoo! and the other Windows Live (MSN).
To configure instant messaging encryption:
1. Open SHIELD DELUXE 2013, click Options in the upper-right corner of the window and choose Expert View.
2. Go to Encryption > Chat Encryption.
Note
You can easily configure instant messaging encryption for each chat partner using the
SHIELD DELUXE 2013 toolbar in the chat window .
By default, IM Encryption is enabled for both Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live
(MSN) Messenger. You can choose to disable IM Encryption for a specific chat application only or completely.
Two tables are displayed:
■
Encryption Exclusions - lists the user IDs and the associated IM program for which encryption is disabled. To remove a contact from the list, select it and click the
Remove button.
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■
Current Connections - lists the current instant messaging connections (user ID and associated IM program) and whether or not they are encrypted. A connection may not be encrypted for these reasons:
• You explicitly disabled encryption for the respective contact.
• Your contact does not have installed a PCSecurityShield product that supports
IM encryption.
20.1. Disabling Encryption for Specific Users
To disable encryption for a specific user, follow these steps:
1. Click the Add button to open the configuration window.
2. Type in the edit field the user ID of your contact.
3. Select the instant messaging application associated with the contact.
4. Click OK.
20.2. SHIELD DELUXE 2013 Toolbar in the Chat Window
You can easily configure instant messaging encryption using SHIELD DELUXE
2013 toolbar from the chat window.
The toolbar should be located in the bottom-right corner of the chat window. Look for
SHIELD DELUXE 2013 logo to find it.
Note
The toolbar indicates that a conversation is encrypted by displaying a small key .
By clicking SHIELD DELUXE 2013 toolbar you are provided with the following options:
■
Permanently disable encryption for contact.
■
Invite contact to use encryption. To encrypt your conversations, your contact must install SHIELD DELUXE 2013 and use a compatible IM program.
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