Over the years, numerous people have suffered tremendous losses financially and in their personal lives due to the exposure of their private matters through their Email accounts. In the technology dependant world, most of our lives revolve around communication by way of SMS’s and Emails. As a result, the access of our email accounts in the wrong hands could spell disaster since it could divulge our entire personal lives to the public. Therefore, one needs to adopt a few strategies to ensure that their private matters stay private and their Email messages can be protected.

Problem: Exposed IP Address

There are two basic ways by which an IP address can be exposed. Firstly, it can be embedded in the email header. This header is not normally seen by users but contains a log which includes the path that the Email took and where it originated. The second way of obtaining an IP address is from the server logs. If users use webmail services, the true IP address gets recorded in the service provider’s server logs. The best way to solve this problem is by taking the following steps

• Accessing Emails from anonymous physical locations.
• Using softwares such as TOR along with webmail from the personal computers.

Problem: Unencrypted Emails

Most users believe that by not actually sending Emails and just saving it in the drafts folder, they are in the green. However, once such activity is discovered, all history can be recovered quite easily. The best way to solve this problem is by taking the following steps –

• Using encrypted communication channels
• Using softwares such as Encipher it Browser Bookmarks or Enlocked.
• Using S/MIME.

The Best Defence for Email Privacy

When it comes to protecting the privacy of your Email correspondence, the rule of more the merrier always applies. While both these recommendations are quite useful, taken together they can prove to be an extremely formidable ally in protecting personal Email messages.

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