• Home
  • About Off The Grid
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
Friday, May 23, 2025
  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Survival
  • Gardening
  • Food
  • Worldview
  • Health
  • Privacy
  • Hunting
  • Defense
  • Financial
  • News
  • Misc
No Result
View All Result
  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Survival
  • Gardening
  • Food
  • Worldview
  • Health
  • Privacy
  • Hunting
  • Defense
  • Financial
  • News
  • Misc
No Result
View All Result
Off The Grid News
Home Privacy

How Safe is Your E-mail?

by Tim George
in Privacy, Top Headline
Print Print
How Safe is Your E-mail?
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on TruthEmail Article

While e-mail may be the new snail mail to the iPhone generation, the fact is that it is the most-used conduit for communication in our world today. E-mails routinely contain business deal discussions, social security numbers, bank account information, and personal information intended only for the recipient.

Along with its convenience, e-mail also carries certain liabilities. Though we immediately think about virus protection for our computers, many of us fail to realize e-mail is the easiest and least-noticed backdoor for hackers. That doesn’t mean you need to avoid using e-mail because it isn’t 100 percent safe. That bill in your mailbox isn’t 100 percent safe; neither, for that matter, is the one being handled by a mail sorter.

E-mail Security Concerns

When you use an e-mail application such as Microsoft Outlook without proper protection, the account credentials that log you into the incoming and outgoing e-mail servers are sent in text from your computer, over the local network and Internet, to your servers. Any e-mail messages you send or receive are in text as well.

That means, if you are checking or sending e-mail on an unsecured or unencrypted network, such as using a Wi-Fi hotspot, anyone with the right tools and knowledge can capture the network packets and read your account credentials and messages.

If you are using a Web-based-only e-mail service, such as Yahoo Mail or Gmail, you also have a security concern. If you fail to follow proper guidelines when using Web-based e-mail services, your messages and login info can also be intercepted.

Even when you use encrypted connections to your e-mail servers, messages you send can still be in clear-text when they reside on your e-mail server and when they leave your server. For example, your messages may pass through other servers on the Web during their travel to the recipient’s server, which might be unsecured and monitored by hackers. And, the recipient may not use encrypted connections to his or her servers. Therefore, Mr. Hacker could intercept the message you sent containing your sensitive information when the recipient downloads your message from his or her incoming e-mail server.

Always use Encrypted Connections to Your E-mail Servers

When you use web-based e-mail, always make sure the connection is secured with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption in order to combat the client-server issue. You can be sure the web site you are using is using SSL if you see https rather than http in the address bar and a padlock icon displayed next to the address bar or on the status bar at the bottom of the browser.

With Outlook make sure you configure the server connection settings with SSL. Instead of using the default e-mail ports (110 for POP3, 143 for IMAP4, and port 25 for SMTP), you should use port 995 for POP3 or 993 for IMAP4 on your incoming server and port 465 for your SMTP outgoing server. Your e-mail provider can provide documentation on how to configure client applications. If you find your provider doesn’t support SSL connections for e-mail, you should find one that does.

Non-Technical Solutions

Strong Passwords – In spite of the fact this advice is given on every single tech blog, it is amazing how often it is ignored. Google is the best when it comes to putting real effort into securing your email account proactively. You can use special characters, numbers, and upper and lower case alphabets of almost any length. No birthdays, pet names, or anything that makes sense whatsoever!

Reliable Secondary Email Addresses – Consider getting a Hotmail or G-Mail account just for conducting business on the web.

Setup SMS Alerts – Google will send you the password reset code whenever someone tries to reset your password. If you are a smartphone user, you can rely on these SMS alerts and disable password recovery via email altogether. Email accounts are always vulnerable to a hacker from a remote place, but your mobile phone is not. Yahoo and Hotmail provide the same feature at no charge.

Be Careful on Public WiFi – Avoid using public WiFi for accessing email or transacting online with a credit card. Casual browsing and YouTube watching are okay. Accessing emails is a big risk.

Avoid Webmail – Even though we have just looked at web-based e-mail, desktop email clients like Outlook or Thunderbird are still the most secure possible route to go.

©2011 Off the Grid News

ShareTweetShareSend

Related Posts

Neuralink’s Dangerous New Trademark Filings

Neuralink’s Dangerous New Trademark Filings

by Bill Heid

The Dark Side of Neural Implants… Power… Privacy… and Control? From an observer’s standpoint, Neuralink’s newly filed trademarks signal an...

When Powerful Machines Are Watching: Privacy Threats and Your Best Defenses in an Automated World

When Powerful Machines Are Watching: Privacy Threats and Your Best Defenses in an Automated World

by Bill Heid

Between Innovation and Intrusion: Safeguarding Privacy in the Age of AI Artificial intelligence is evolving at a breathtaking pace, revolutionizing...

Unraveling the Chemical Complexity of Pine Needles

Safeguarding Your Children’s Privacy in a “Connected” Christmas

by Bill Heid

Are your child’s experiences being sent to massive data centers? Increasingly, these special surprises include advanced technology… toys that respond...

Next Post
The Amazing History Of The King James Bible

The Amazing History Of The King James Bible

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Facing Our Giants: A Fight To The Finish

Facing Our Giants: A Fight To The Finish

The Sabbath And Freedom

The Sabbath And Freedom

Powerful Evidence Supports Ivermectin Passing Scientific Scrutiny With Flying Colors

Powerful Evidence Supports Ivermectin Passing Scientific Scrutiny With Flying Colors

TRENDING STORIES

  • bubonic plague

    Is Another Bubonic Plague Pandemic On The Horizon?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Waco Fertilizer Plant Explosion & A Look Back On The “Waco Massacre”

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Make Yourself 3 Times More Likely To Survive A Heart Attack

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • AI Surveillance Of Shoppers: Walmart’s Newest Tool To Grab Your Data

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Apocalyptic’ Microchip Implants Are Here – And Being Inserted Into People’s Hands

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Subscribe to our Insider Newsletter

Huge discounts on off-the-grid gear and life saving supplements.






‘Off The Grid News’ is an independent, weekly email newsletter and website that is crammed full of practical information on living and surviving off the grid. Advice you’ll never hear from the mainstream media.

  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Extreme Survival
  • Survival Gardening
  • Off-Grid Foods
  • Worldview
  • Natural Health
  • Survival Hunting
  • Privacy
  • Financial
  • Current Events
  • Self Defense
  • Home Defense
  • Pain-Free Living
  • Miscellaneous
  • Off Grid Videos

© Copyright 2025 Off The Grid News.  All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Survival
  • Gardening
  • Food
  • Worldview
  • Health
  • Privacy
  • Hunting
  • Defense
  • Financial
  • News
  • Misc
  • Videos

© Copyright 2025 Off The Grid News.  All Rights Reserved.