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NEW YORK — Target continues to flirt with Gotham, placing a 52-page catalog in the April 14 edition of The New York Times. While it doesn’t signal that the retailer will finally fully commit to New York City and open a store in Manhattan, the catalog drop does suggest that Target has set several priorities for its home furnishings operations.

Given the timing and recent developments in the home furnishings sector at retail, Target clearly is determined to aggressively pursue new business.

The catalog, a glossy publication that offers products ranging in price from $1.99 to a $699.99 leather club chair, comes at a time when analysts have stated that Target initiatives, particularly Global Bazaar, have impacted other home furnishings retailers. In a fourth-quarter conference call, Target president Gregg Steinhafel said that the launch of the promotional Global Bazaar collection had led to incremental sales. The company, he said, is confident it can create more opportunistic home initiatives based on the success it had building a management team to run Global Bazaar. “It’s one of the things we do well,” he said.

The Target catalog also broke just as Kmart began to introduce an updated assortment in existing Martha Stewart Everyday categories and got ready to add a new furniture component to the line. The catalog also suggests that Target is positioning itself to better compete with an expanding Ikea, which publishes a sought-after catalog of its own.

As is the case with Ikea, the Target catalog isn’t an alternative to shopping the store as it is a way to bring innovation and breadth of assortment to the attention of consumers. Still, frequent references to product availability on Target.com support the hypothesis that the retailer intends the publication to be a true catalog, particularly for Manhattanites who have to cross a river to reach a Target. The catalog also showcases established home brands, such as Michael Graves Design and Swell, and newer labels such as Fieldcrest, Isaac Mizrahi Home and Simply Shabby Chic, in their best light. Some brands aren’t pictured at all, specifically Martex.

The catalog also demonstrates the range of home furnishing products Target sells today, with the $699 club chair and a $249 dresser from Thomasville’s Renovations division helping to define the top end. It also features a spread dedicated to its new relationship with California Closets.

In a research note, Bernstein Research analyst Emme Kozloff stated that the “catalog raises the bar for discount retail home assortments and mimics department and specialty store design and breadth.”

In this global and increasingly fast-paced business world, traveling for work is a way of life for many. Making the most out of your time on the road is often a top priority, but the trick is making sure this doesn’t come at the expense of security. Checking your e-mail while waiting for your plane to board, fine-tuning a business proposal during the flight, and browsing online in a hotel café are popular ways to spend time during business travel—and crooks know this. Fortunately, there are tools you can use and steps you can take to help keep your information and hardware safe.

1. Use Security Software While this may seem like common sense to most, installing security software is often overlooked, yet is a necessary step to protect the data on your equipment. While most wireless networks have some level of security, the more protection you have on your device, the better. Even a basic password can help protect your information if your device is lost or stolen. For more advanced solutions, consider multi-layered security. Antivirus and antispyware software combined with firewalls will decrease the likelihood that a hacker or identity thief will be able to access your information. You should also update your Web browsers and other software frequently.

2. Keep it Simple Take only what you need on your next trip. When setting up your mobile office, determine the hardware, software and programs you need before you leave. Cater your hardware and software programs to your own personal needs and work patterns, while also ensuring that a minimal amount of information can fall into the wrong hands. Make sure you know the latest security rules. I always carry my laptop with me, but if faced with a situation where I couldn’t carry my device on to the plane, I’m not sure I’d take it with me at all. Since you can’t lock checked bags, I’d be reluctant to check a device as valuable to me as my laptop with my luggage. Instead, I’d make sure my destination location or hotel provides a business center that would allow me to stay in touch while I’m away. I’ve also got a smaller pull-out section of my briefcase in which I keep my computer, so that in the event that I’m on a commuter flight with limited storage, I can leave my briefcase plane-side while still carrying on a smaller case with my laptop.

3. Protect Yourself Back up your data. In case your laptop or smart phone is stolen or misplaced, put essential files on a flash drive or CD before you leave. Another option is to use paper to save important information. Printing out your list of important contacts is a great way to back up your electronic device.

To foil nosy neighbors, use a privacy screen filter, such as those made by 3M, which make it impossible to view a laptop screen from an angle.

4. Hotspots Can Put You in the Hot Seat Wireless hotspots are not as secure as you may think. Software programs called packet sniffers can allow people to look at wireless transactions in the vicinity and capture the information being transmitted between the laptop and wireless access point. These programs are typically used to capture passwords, credit card numbers and bank account information, and hackers can find and download them for free on the Internet. While checking e-mails in the airport hotspot may not be that risky, remember to wait until you’re in a more secure place to enter financial information.

Using a virtual private network (VPN) to connect to your office can make using public hotspots safer because your information is encrypted as it travels. This makes the information appear as gibberish to anyone trying to intercept it. A VPN provides additional data protection on common Internet-based transactions through virtually any terminal or network. If your company does not offer a VPN for employees working away from the office, there are services you can subscribe to for a minimal monthly fee, and some providers even offer daily or weekly packages for infrequent travelers. —Tips 5-8>>

5. Hotel Access If someone else makes your travel arrangements for you, make sure that complimentary in-room access and/or 24-hour business center access is one of the criteria for where you stay. I make my own travel plans, and the online travel service that I use does a good job of telling me whether the hotels I’m considering offer business services and/or in-room access, and if there is a fee. Interestingly enough, I’ve found when I travel that mid- to lower-priced hotels do a much better job of offering complimentary in-room high speed access than higher-end properties.

6. Cell Phone Data Networks A cell phone data network service is becoming a more common option to hotspot technology as a way of getting online when away from your office. These networks provide broader coverage than hotspots and allow you to conduct business anywhere you’re able to get a good cell signal. I still find them a bit on the pricey side given how much I travel, and I don’t use the service from home because I live in an area that gets very poor cell phone reception. However, if you do get a good cell signal at home, you will enjoy increased convenience and higher financial benefits by having home and travel services on one cellular device, which often costs much less than a home landline combined with additional travel services.

Former supermodel Cindy Crawford is bringing her sense of style to the world of home furnishings. Santa Monica-based Cindy Crawford Home Licensing struck a deal with Simi Valley-based Malibu Designs last week to develop a home line. It will include tabletop, entertaining, outdoor and kitchen decor items, and be out by summer.

“Cindy will be working very closely with us on every aspect of the development, from the exact items introduced to the fabrics, materials, and colors of the items,” said Jeff Haines, co-chief executive of Malibu Designs. “We’re very excited to bring her vision and decorating style to retailers nationwide.”

Kathie Anderson needed some light in her life. After a year working as a custom framer in a gray, windowless basement workshop, in 1977, she opened her own business–Tandem Brick Gallery–in all old, brick building with plenty of windows and lots of light.

The frame shop and art gallery got an immediate jump start with its first customer, Ducks Unlimited, and received an additional shot in the arm framing wildlife reproductions for a local gun shop just up the street. For the next few years, Anderson did a steady business selling artwork and framing prints of duck, pheasant and hunting stamps.

In the early 1980s, it seemed that wildlife galleries were cropping up all over Des Moines, Anderson recalled. But, as the 1990s approached, she began changing her focus. While Tandem Brick continued to frame stitcheries, wildlife prints, maps and photos, Anderson’s attention began to turn toward museum-quality framing.

“When we became the framers for a well-established gallery in downtown Des Moines, we felt we had arrived,” Anderson said. Soon after, Tandem Brick began framing that gallery’s works by Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenburg, Grant Wood, Alexander Calder and Mauricio Lasansky.

The new account was important because the gallery began recommending Tandem Brick to its customers. And it wasn’t long before business began to boom. Saturdays saw an influx of customers with personal frame orders, and the frame shop soon became a meeting place where everyone seemed to know each other.

“Never underestimate word-of-mouth advertising,” Anderson said. “We were definitely making a place in the art community.”

But Anderson’s ride has not always been smooth. In the wake of the Mississippi River floods of 1993, framing was the last thing people in Des Moines had on their minds–nor was it a hot topic following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. During the tough times, Anderson simply cut back on stock–and waited.

Taking a Detour

Nine years ago, Anderson’s landlord announced he was retiring and asked if she was interested in the space once occupied by former barbershop, located two doors down from the gallery.

Indeed, she was. Over the years, Tandem Brick had begun carrying a wide variety of merchandise, including furniture, lighting and other home decorating items. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to separate this merchandise from her frame shop and gallery, Anderson accepted the space and opened Tandem Two Doors Down.

Last fall, Anderson renovated Two Doors Down, renamed it Detour, and increased its eclectic stock of hip furniture, lamps and various oddities to pique the interest of the city’s younger, more upscale clientele.

Reaching Out

Individual orders account for about 50 percent of Anderson’s business. When working with designers and businesses, she finds that offering discounts on frames and mouldings has helped because, “You have to be competitive with large orders.”

Anderson doesn’t shy away from approaching local businesses herself. In fact, she often picks out artwork and puts together presentation hoards for them.

When supplying large framing orders to businesses, such as hotels, insurance companies and restaurants, Anderson tries to combine museum quality with quantity by purchasing factory-framed pieces.

Establishing Confidence

Anderson believes the reason her frame shop works is because she pays attention to her customers’ needs.

“Our customers feel that they are a part of our business. They are the reason we have been here for 27 years,” she said. “Tandem Brick’s orders are taken only by experienced framers so that customers have confidence that their artwork will be in good hands.”

Doing the job right means Tandem Brick has few returns, Anderson said. “When our customers are happy with the finished product, not only will they come back, but they will tell others.”

Securing her place in the Des Moines community has led Anderson to take an interest in matters outside of Tandem Brick. She is on the board of a local business association that is working with the city council on proposals for the beautification of the Ingersoll neighborhood, where Tandem Brick Gallery is located.

Des Moines is a great place to own a frame shop, Anderson said, since many of its residents choose to support local businesses. She attributes the city’s demand for fine custom framing to its supportive arts scene, which is bolstered by three universities with excellent art programs, corporations with extensive art collections, a well-endowed public art center and a huge summer arts festival.

Making It Personal

Phillip Lasansky, son of well-known Argentinian artist Mauricio Lasansky and brother of artist Tomas Lasansky, has been coming to Tandem Brick for two years.

“Not only is [Anderson] highly skilled and top-shelf when it comes to the technical aspects of framing, but she’s very personal in the way she relates with customers, first-time or otherwise,” said Lasansky, president and art director of Lasansky Corp.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Nuasis Corporation and The Telework Coalition (TelCoa) will partner again for a webcast titled “Home-Based Agents: The Next Big Trend in Call Centers.” The one hour webcast for consultants with a call center practice will air May 16 at 10 am, Pacific/ 1 pm, Eastern.

Earlier this month, Nuasis and TelCoa teamed up for the first time to deliver a seminar on this same topic to a large group of call center consultants in Phoenix. The tremendous response to the Phoenix seminar proved to the two organizations that there is a need for call center consultants to be educated on the business drivers for home-based agents.

According to seminar presenter and TelCoa representative, Jack Heacock, the ability to deploy home-based agents has been around for a long time but never before have there been so many factors driving companies to consider this business model.

“From storm seasons and soaring gasoline prices to terrorist threats and pandemics, companies are being forced to seriously consider home agents as a cornerstone component for their business continuity. Consultants need to be prepared to answer questions and educate their clients on reasons why this business model should be considered,” said Heacock. “I’m delighted to be working with Nuasis on this seminar series. As a pioneering call center vendor Nuasis has a patented capability for quickly and cost effectively deploying and supporting home-based agents. The home-agent business model is clearly an area of focus for Nuasis as it is for TelCoa.” Heacock is senior vice president, member of the executive committee and corporate secretary of the Washington D.C.-based TelCoa.

In addition to learning about how companies can achieve significant competitive advantage through home-agents, webcast attendees will also learn about the demographic trends of the home-based movement and the financial incentives available to call centers who adopt the home-based agent model.

NEW YORK — Ebay is expanding its marketplace in an effort to become a service for home remodelers, a strategy that builds on its success as a destination for home furnishings. From doorknobs to Jacuzzis, the offerings are attracting both do-it-yourselfers and building professionals, who are using the online marketplace to find the things they need to restyle homes.

The home furnishings push at eBay, which began about four years ago, has become a major business for the company, said John McDonald, eBay’s director of home and garden. Not only does eBay offer a variety of collectables and used goods, it also offers unopened store-brand items, seconds, designer goods, antiques and novelty items.

Home & Garden constitutes its own category on eBay today. The most sought after brands include Ikea, DeWalt, Tupperware, Pier 1 Imports, Craftsman, John Deere, KitchenAid, Ralph Lauren and The Sharper Image. Related online eBay stores include The Sure Fit Slipcover Outlet, Cabinet Hardware Designs, Buy Essex, Specialty Pool Products and Framed Art For A Penny.

Particularly strong home furnishings areas have been bedding and furniture, McDonald said. Citing ACNeilsen data, he said that eBay Home & Garden attracted more unique visitors in March than any other home-related site on the Internet. At any time, 160,000 live listings are posted on the eBay Web site’s home decor section. Based on the fourth quarter of 2004, eBay Home & Garden should deliver about $2 billion in annualized gross merchandising volume.

Home furnishings and remodeling together are going strong. “Home remodeling and home furnishings are seeing 38% growth,” McDonald noted.

Although home remodeling products have been available on eBay for years, they’ve really taken off over the past six to nine months, McDonald said.

These days, eBay has an average of 50,000 live listings in the tools category at any time, and more than 16,000 power tools are sold through its auspices each week. Cordless drills, nail guns, circular saws and wrench sets are the hot sellers in tools. Craftsman is a sought-after brand on eBay, as is DeWalt and other popular searches on the site are for Snap-On products and air compressors.

Yet, more than tools are trading hands, and McDonald said that the company is becoming a resource not just for professionals seeking used air compressors but also for serious home do-it-yourselfers. For example, he noted, various home spa and Jacuzzi products, particularly Jacuzzi bathtubs, have become popular eBay products.

Sellers vary widely, and retailers as well as consumers and vendors are working through eBay. Avilla Hardware, a True Value-affiliated store in 2,000-resident-strong Avilla, Ind., began using eBay to dabble in the online marketplace. Today, Avilla is testing a drop-ship capability from 12 regional True Value distribution centers.

Building off its eBay experience, Avilla now does 30% to 35% of its transactions online, said Charlie Casavant, the store’s owner, and 70% of that part of the business is through eBay. In the first full year of business, Casavant said he had done $250,000 in online sales, although at a slight loss. He’s showing a little profit this year and believes he can double his sales in the foreseeable future.

Overall, he said, and despite eBay fee increases that rankled a bit, he represented his Internet experience as a positive. “It doesn’t take a lot of space in my business” Casavant said. “It reaches new business and even generates local business here and there when someone will come into the store asking if I’ll sell a piece I have on eBay through the store.”

In a nation fascinated with home improvement, the last decade has seen untold dollars channeled into everything from new kitchens and bathrooms to home theaters and offices. But home improvement is not just about new additions and updated decor–it’s also about home safety. And for every dollar spent on improving the home, a growing portion is being directed into making the home a safer place to live and work.

Manufacturers have recognized this trend toward home safety and in recent years have been saturating the market with home safety products and introducing safety innovations to meet this demand. Smoke alarms have become more sophisticated, cabinet locks are more versatile to adapt to the needs of our homes and shower grab bars are also enjoying a face lift to make them more aesthetically appealing. Even the idea of making safer living spaces has spawned a new design technique called Universal Design, whose object is the creation of products and environments that can be used by people with the widest range of function.

The demand from consumers and the response from manufacturers have presented a tremendous opportunity for retailers. Retailers are responding by offering a host of home safety products on their floors–at times devoting entire sections of their stores to home safety. And while retailers are certainly feeding their customers’ demands, it is important to ask if they are giving them what they really need: home safety education and, more importantly, education that is based on correct information that can be used to make informed decisions.

The amount of home safety information and the number of different home safety products on the market can be daunting to the average consumer. When it comes to the safety of their families, consumers want to make an informed decision and the uninformed consumer may walk away from a retail outlet overwhelmed, frustrated or anxious. For the retailer, this scenario could result in a missed opportunity to make a positive impact with their customer. Equally important, it could also cause the retailer to miss out on a credibility-building opportunity as a consumer resource and community partner. For the customer, this overwhelming feeling may cause indifference to buying an important safety product or implementing a proper home safety practice that may save their family’s lives.

Retailers that are serious about building their home safety business, therefore, need to take a serious look at how they’re taking their message to market. In order to get credit as a steward of safety that truly offers its customer the right home safety tools, retailers might consider a range of options to deliver safety messages in an effective way, including:

* Educational events around a specific home hazard or an area of the home using a safety expert as the media spokesperson.

* Home safety educational programs with the dissemination of home safety materials to schools and communities.

* Sponsorship of an educational mobile marketing initiative that can help drive store traffic.

* Coordinating in-store home safety clinics utilizing safety experts and home safety materials

One great example of a successful retail partnership that has helped raise home safety awareness nationwide is The Great Safety Adventure, a home safety “field trip on wheels.” The program has toured the country for seven years, visiting schools, driving traffic to sponsor store locations and delivering consistent, accurate home safety messages for children and their families.

Each year, the number of outreach programs and initiatives to educate the American consumer on how to reduce the risk of unintentional home-related injuries continues to grow–but there’s plenty more that can be done. Through adequate coordination with manufacturers and other experts in the safety industry, retailers can and should continue to reduce consumer anxiety and help make home safety a reality for families nationwide.

Meri-K Appy is a veteran of the safety industry and an internationally-recognized expert in fire and life safety education. As president of the Home Safety Council, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to helping prevent unintentional injuries in the home, she advises retailers and manufacturers implementing home safety programs.

Whether because of the crowd, the fungus in the shower drains, or just the bad music they play, chances are you’ve considered quitting your gym at least one time or another and opening your own–at home.

But aside from your restrictions on price and space, you probably didn’t know how or where to begin. That’s why we’re bringing you our Home-Gym Makeover, the story of one lucky couple from Pennsylvania who entered our contest and won the home gym of their dreams. What they have can be yours, too, if you take the advice that follows.

Our tale begins in the summer of 2005, as our panel of judges sifted through thousands of contest entries in search of a winner for our home-gym makeover project. Among the worthy assortment of out-of-shape dads, stressed executives, and facility-deprived firefighters and policemen, one couple stood out almost immediately. James and Kristin Decker, newlyweds from a Philadelphia suburb, stopped us in our tracks. An insurance adjuster during the week, James competed in nine triathlons in 2005, collecting three top-20 finishes. He trains twice a day, six days a week, and he hasn’t eaten pizza since the late ’90s. When not working or working out, he attends fitness trade shows and studies gym-equipment catalogs with the kind of intensity generally reserved for fetish porn.

His wife, Kristin, is every bit his equal: She runs 48 miles a week, won the Tim Kerr 10K in 2005, and finished in the top 40 in Philadelphia’s Broad Street Run and the Philadelphia Distance Run.

The problem? As newlyweds with different fitness goals, the Deckers were forced to work out in different gyms at different times. “We just got married, and now we never get to see each other,” James wrote in his entry. “A home gym would give us the chance to maintain both our bodies and our relationship.” Best of all, the couple had the perfect gym-friendly space: an unfinished basement in their new home, just waiting to be put to use. The decision was made.

And by all accounts, we definitely picked the right guy. Hours after MF editor in chief Neal Boulton called James to notify him that he was our contest winner, James e-mailed back saying, “I can’t tell you how excited we are. I just had to leave my office to do a lap around the parking lot!”

Selecting a designer to plan for the Ultimate Home Gym was also a no-brainer. We called on fitness guru David Barton. For the past few years, while developing his chain, David Barton Gym (DAVIDBARTON GYM.COM), in cities like New York, Chicago, and Miami, Barton has earned a reputation for designing and building gyms so beautiful–and functional–that they serve to remind us that exercise doesn’t have to be all sweat and pain.

GETTING STARTED

According to Barton, after you’ve committed to transforming any vacant room in your home into a den of fitness, the first thing you’ve got to decide is what equipment you’re going to want. “The key is really figuring out how to get the most out of a small amount of space” he says.

BEFORE

That proved to be no easy task for the Deckers, who immediately drew up an expansive wish list of equipment and a computer-generated floor plan that, if made into a reality, would have transformed their basement from a 42′ x 20′ rectangle into a logjam of iron.

James’ schematic (above) called for pulley systems, adjustable benches, a preacher-curl bench, calf-raise machine, leg extension, leg curl, Smith System, power rack, dumbbells, and nearly every other kind of equipment imaginable. According to Barton, the Deckers’ initial plan reflected a very common but grievous error made by do-it-yourself home-gym architects: investing their time and space in big, expensive machines–a leg extension or hamstring curl, hip abduction or preacher bench, for example–that allow users to perform only one, single-joint exercise.

Barton encouraged James and Kristin to consider a “less is more” approach: a few pieces of strength equipment–a power rack, dumbbells, an adjustable bench, and a pulley system–that would allow a wide range of multijoint exercises (the best muscle-builders in any workout). The point: Whether it’s the Deckers’ home gym or one you’re designing on your own, you need equipment that can accommodate your ever-evolving needs, because your workouts will inevitably change over time.

THINK ATHLETIC AND AESTHETIC

No one wants anything in their home to be an eyesore. That’s why you have to decide early on how the gym will look and what kind of equipment and layout will best fit the decor of your home. “In my experience,” says Barton, “what most people end up doing is putting up white Sheetrock walls, installing some fluorescent lights and a rubber floor, and then adding equipment. It ends up being really sterile and looking like a miniature version of a commercial chain gym–one that doesn’t make you feel like working out.” Instead, Barton recommends making the gym a warm, inviting room. “What’s going to motivate you during a workout is all the senses you engage–the music you’re listening to, what’s on the television, and the temperature in the room.”

“The whole purpose,” Juliet Gonya, “is to make the passenger forget that we are flying at 30,000 feet. The bar is one thing that does that.”

Gonya, the Miami-based representative of Virgin Atlantic Airways, doesn’t stop with just the bar, which looks like a backdrop in the sci-fi TV series “Enterprise.” She is quick to point out that each Virgin Upper Class cabin also includes a massage station, done in the same curvilinear, burnished aluminum and red-leather style. More importantly, it’s staffed with an onboard in-flight therapist, and each passenger is entitled to a 15-to-20 minute massage or beauty treatment. A thermal-heated clay-based facial mask at 30,000 feet? Now, that could make you forget you are flying.

“The idea is that every upper class passenger should be touched,” says Tina Griffith, one of Virgin’s in-flight beauty therapists. That can mean a back massage, or a “stress-busting” face and scalp massage, both guaranteed to help “clarify the thought process.”

The real centerpiece of the new Virgin service between Miami and London, however, is the passenger’s seat, which motors into a “lazy zed” position for sleeping. While not absolutely horizontal, the recline–which provides more than six feet of sleeping space–is a mega-leap forward from the merely reclining first- and business-class seats found in most transcontinental flights.

Other perks for the flight include complimentary, door-to-door limousine service to Miami International and Heathrow airport, and use of the exclusive Virgin Lounge at Heathrow, where passengers can enjoy showers, food and a pressing service for rumpled clothing. All of which make for a most hospitable welcome to London.

While still in the air, travelers can order food at any time from a restaurant-style menu. Choices for entrees run from seared cod to Southwest chicken to Steak Diane, with salads, cheese selections and an extensive wine list to accompany your meal. You also have a private selection of movies (more than 50), television shows, music and computer games.

“This is a really good alternative for business travelers,” says Virgin Atlantic spokesperson Wendy Buck. “Our Upper Class has a business-class fare, so we brand it as our business class.” Individual tickets cost $6,000 to $7,000, depending on season and booking times, but Virgin does negotiate corporate discounts–as well as give two-for-one ticketing to Platinum American Express card holders.

Secured eMail 2.2 aims to simplify e-mail encryption so people will actually use it. It integrates with Outlook, and a Lotus Notes version is due later this year. To initiate secure communication, you simply send an encrypted message and separately transmit a shared-secret passphrase. A first-time recipient has to download the free reader and enter the shared secret. For fellow Outlook users, Secured eMail decrypts messages automatically; those using other e-mail clients must launch an attachment. If you use Outlook, you can encrypt any number of replies to secured messages for free. Those wanting to try the product can originate up to ten encrypted messages at no cost.

Secured eMail uses a patented technique called Simultaneous Key Generation. Unlike Public Key cryptographic solutions such as PGP Desktop, which require a key-repository server for storing and looking up public keys, SKG generates the same key on both your system and the recipient’s. Keys are based on your e-mail addresses and the shared secret. Each message gets a new key.

The shared secret (which can be up to 256 characters long) isn’t stored separately and can’t be recovered. Since Secured eMail encrypts data at your desktop and decrypts it at the recipient’s desktop (both processes use the 256-bit AES algorithm), the clear, unencrypted text never leaves your computer.

Secured eMail is unobtrusive and easy to use. It conveniently adds a Send Secured button to Outlook’s message composition window (unfortunately, though, the process creates an entire toolbar for just one button). The first time you use Send Secured, the program prompts you to create a shared secret for your contact—Secured eMail will even print a page to mail or fax the secret. (You can optionally generate a separate e-mail containing the secret, but this is less secure, of course.) While you can access the utility’s minimal configuration settings from Outlook’s Tools menu, you’ll rarely use them other than to change the default text of fields like the subject line for secure messages (the actual subject is encrypted) and the mail/fax shared-secret letter.

First-time recipients click on a link to download the free 4MB reader directly from Secured eMail. Those with a healthy suspicion of links sent by e-mail can get the reader from Microsoft’s windowsmarketplace.com. After completing the one-time installation and entering the shared secret, secure communication is a snap. Outlook’s preview pane shows the unencrypted message, but opening the message brings up brings up the secured version without any noticeable pause for decryption.

There’s one minor downside to this transparency: If you open a message by clicking “yes” in response to the New Mail desktop alert, you’ll have no indication that it was sent to you encrypted. And even if you know it was sent secured, it’s very easy to click Send or use the Ctrl+Enter send shortcut out of habit when replying. But you must click the Send Secured button in order to encrypt your reply; forgetting to do so can jeopardize the security of the entire conversation.

I had no trouble receiving and viewing encrypted mail on a Thunderbird/Firefox system, though there wasn’t an option for a secured reply—that feature requires Outlook. Launching the attachment displayed the secured message in Internet Explorer. A Windows 98 system using Outlook Express gave me a bit of grief, however.

Everything seemed to work, right up to the point of actually viewing the secured message. With very short messages (”this is a test,” for example), the reader would decrypt the subject and any attachments but omit the body content. Longer, more realistic messages came through just fine. Experts at Secured eMail verified this bug, which they’ll fix in the next release.

The home user package described here is a one-time purchase. With the three successively higher-end packages, which offer business-oriented features, you pay a yearly maintenance fee. Administrators using the Professional edition can create additional security requirements: For example, they can configure the utility so that users must enter a PIN to encrypt or decrypt e-mail.

The Corporate edition lets you establish a single master-key password that will unlock any employee’s messages. You can also customize the installation image and deploy it from a central server. The Enterprise edition goes even further, allowing you to perform admin tasks via a server and configure secure communication for groups without going through the shared-secret process. All editions rely on the same underlying SKG technology, though.

I like this encryption solution’s simplicity and the fact that sensitive content stays encrypted all the way from your desktop to the recipient’s. Since you don’t need to define and publish a public key, trying out the technology is easy. But, as noted, accidentally replying without encryption is also easy, thereby risking the security of your entire sensitive conversation. You’ll have to train yourself to use Send Secured correctly. If you’re an Outlook user and Secured eMail Home 2.2 sounds interesting, give it a try, since those first ten secured messages won’t cost you anything.