Google already changed Gmail to use encryption by default, a mode indicated by the “https” at the beginning of a browser address bar. That means outsiders sniffing network traffic can’t read your e-mail. People could still get to the unencrypted version by typing “http://gmail.com,” but they cannot do that in Google Chrome.
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One of the better articles by Stephen Shankland. I think it was a clever and necessary move by Google.