An approach is provided for managing a message being transferred from a mobile device. A sensitivity level of data in the message payload is determined prior to sending the message to a wireless access point (WAP) en route to a destination device. If the payload data has a first sensitivity level, the mobile device sends the message to a first secure WAP having encryption at a threshold strength at a network layer and utilizes a protocol having encryption at an application layer. If the data has a second sensitivity level, the mobile device (a) sends the message to the first secure WAP without utilizing the protocol or (b) sends the message to a second, less secure WAP having encryption at a lesser strength and utilizes the protocol. If the data has a third sensitivity level, the mobile device sends the message to the second WAP without utilizing the protocol.