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Comparing Virtru with Google Gmail Confidential Mode

AI Startup
“We want the customers to feel safe. So, it doesn't matter if the product ends up on a supermarket shelf or in a highly classified environment. It's very important for us that we're giving them a professional way to share data, and we're not just attaching it to an email.”

CTO

Gmail Confidential Mode offers baseline access controls for messages and attachments, but many organizations face pain points because those controls are limited, the features restrict common sharing workflows, and their messages aren’t truly “confidential.” Here are some of the key differences between the two solutions.
  • Virtru provides client-side, end-to-end encryption for Gmail. Gmail Confidential Mode offers TLS encryption, Gmail's standard protocol. 
  • Virtru allows recipients to securely reply to encrypted messages. Google Confidential Mode does not enable secure reply. 
  • Virtru provides admins with a clear audit trail for secure mail (inbound and outbound). Gmail Confidential Mode provides limited visibility for admins. 
  • Virtru supports compliance with strict regulations like CJIS, ITAR, and CMMC. Gmail Confidential Mode does not. 

How to Choose Between Virtru and Gmail Confidential Mode

Virtru for Gmail is an end-to-end encryption solution that integrates directly within the Gmail interface via an easy-to-install Google Chrome browser extension. Virtru provides data-centric security with object-level encryption, keeping messages and attachments private and compliant while fostering secure collaboration. With one click of a toggle button, Virtru encrypts the message body and any attachments before they reach Google's servers, ensuring privacy throughout collaboration workflows. Virtru also offers a data protection gateway that can automate server-side protection.

Gmail Confidential Mode is designed in a way that provides an average consumer user with a little more privacy and control, but it’s simply not an end-to-end encryption solution for organizations with heightened security requirements.

Here's how the solutions stack up against each other for robust data protection. 

Features

Virtru For Gmail

Google Gmail Confidential

Access revocation and expiration

✅

✅

Disable forwarding

✅

✅

End-to-end encryption for email message and attachments

✅

✖️

Customer-hosted encryption key options

✅

✖️

Automatic enforcement of DLP rules

✅

✖️

Attachment download for recipients

✅

✖️

Attachment watermarks

✅

✖️

Compliance support for CJIS, ITAR, CMMC, PCI, etc.

✅

✖️

Secure collaboration with external users

✅

Limited, Outbound-Only

Granular access controls

✅

✖️

Admin visibility into inbound and outbound secure messages

✅

✖️

 

Advantages of Virtru for Confidential Data Sharing in Gmail

Industry-Leading Security Standards

  • End-to-end encryption for messages and attachments
  • Customer-hosted encryption keys to prevent blind government subpoenas
  • No access by Google or other unauthorized third parties

A view of Virtru for Gmail, which includes E2EE encryption, expiration date, watermarking, and more.

Secure Collaboration Capabilities

  • Secure responses for all recipients, even if they don’t use Gmail
  • Seamless, secure access for non-Gmail recipients, without extra verification steps
  • Persistent protection for attachments, even after download

Control and Visibility for Administrators

  • Automatic protection and control via DLP rules and policy enforcement
  • Document watermarking
  • Granular access controls (e.g. allow forward, disable download)
  • Persistent visibility into recipient access and sharing
  • Granular audit logs and SIEM integrations

Ready to learn more about Virtru for Gmail? Contact our team for a demo, and discover how easy it can be to deploy simple, intuitive, end-to-end encryption for your Gmail workflows. 

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