Webmail content will now be protected from computer hackers and keyword-related advertisement will be blocked, as promised by a new Australian-developed browser plug-in.

The protection works by using a browser toolbar to encrypt email messages at one's computer. A free version of the Armacrypt software needs to be downloaded by recipients to decrypt their email messages. The emails remain encrypted while in transfer and in storage on mail servers.

The encryption also prevents Google Adwords from filtering email text and giving out related keyword advertisements on the page of the webmail. Google Adwords serves generic advertisements and encryption links instead.

The plug-in works well on Internet Explorer and Firefox for Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook Web Access and AOL email services. Another version of the plug-in is being planned for later this year.

The Armacrypt software employs 256-bit AES encryption and differs from the optional SSL encryption provided by Gmail, which shields the send-receive connection instead of the text.

Up till now, the email encryption has been limited to those with highly confidential correspondence to protect a legal profession or large corporations.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Google Australia spokeswoman stated that Google does not allocate data encryption "to help preserve the speed and functionality people expect from Gmail." As an alternative, Google uses other security methods and technology to protect privacy, veracity, and data availability.