This e-mail will self-destruct ...

"… This message will self-destruct in five seconds." Like something out of "Mission: Impossible," a London-based firm hopes to sell Web surfers on the next level of privacy: Encrypted self-destructing e-mail. "THERE ARE THOUSANDS of cases where people have gotten in trouble because of their e-mail," said Leo Scheiner, CEO of Internet venture Global Markets Ltd. - the owner of Web-based e-mail start-up 1on1. "They_ll send out e-mail without any thoughts of the consequences of what they are saying. That_s well and good, but those words have a way of coming back and hitting you in the face." Requiring a custom e-mail client, the Web e-mail service promises unbreakable encryption to give individuals privacy and corporations some protection against competitors and lawsuits. "What we have is a service that provides what any businessman would want: Confidentiality, reliability, and the ability to assure that your e-mail has arrived," said Scheiner. With 2,048-bit encryption, trying to break the code hiding users_ messages is impossible, he said. Yet, the service has only been running for a week, and is relatively untested. The company invites hackers to try their hand at breaking the encryption by offering a standard reward of $50,000 to whoever can do it. The company adds other features as well. To avoid that pesky e-mail that comes back to bite the writer, 1on1 can automatically be set to delete e-mail after a certain period of time has passed. As an added benefit, the security features of the system also make it nigh impossible to send spam to its users. Yet, despite its short history, the service is already gathering critics.