Exploring Electronic Mail

Introduction  

Email is the most commonly used mode of communication today. Information is communicated over email in different forms such as text, images, audio, and video. It is the main resource for business communication. As it has become an undetachable medium of communication, it attracts criminals or persons having malicious intent. Cybercriminals use email for sending spam, threats, phishing emails, propagating malicious software like viruses and worms, distributing illegitimate material like child pornography, and hoaxes, and using it for other criminal activities. Therefore, it is necessary to secure our email system and to identify criminals, collect evidence against them and bring them to justice in a court of law. Emails suffer from multiple threats and there are several tools available in the market for fighting such threats. To secure emails, we need a multi-pronged approach. Multiple safety measures need to be implemented to have a safe online experience. In this chapter, the learner is introduced to email. The different parts of an email are explained along with an illustration to explain how an email is delivered to the recipient. There is a complete section dedicated to email security issues. We discuss in detail about different email security threats, such as spamming, spoofing phishing, malicious email attachments, and so on. Toward the end of the chapter, we talk about multiple steps that can be followed to secure emails from outside attacks. There are a couple of procedures included along with screenshots. Some of the email security measures that are discussed include creating a strong password two-step verification and so on. Finally, we end the chapter with a brief discussion about encryption and decryption. We look at the types of encryption methodologies and the drawbacks of encryption.

Electronic Mail :

Electronic Mail (popularly known as email) is a digital medium of communication widely used to exchange messages across the Internet. It was invented by Ray Tomlinson in 1972. Email is used for sending and receiving electronic messages over the Internet. You can send or receive an email using a desktop computer, mobile phone, or any other electronic gadget that supports desktop or web-based applications. Companies such as Google and Microsoft that provide email functionality maintain huge server farms to store the large volume of data that is created. You can send text, audio, and video to a recipient in a single email message. To use email you must first register and set up an account with an email provider such as Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft. Once your account is verified, you can send and receive emails that get delivered within a few seconds and it is completely free of cost.

Email Versus Traditional Mail

Email provides several features and benefits that have given it an edge over traditional mail (also known as snail mail). As a result of this, email usage has overtaken traditional mail in such a way that it has almost become a thing of the past. Nowadays, no one has the time or patience to wait for a letter that can take days to come. 

The main benefits of email over snail (regular mail) mail are:

Simplicity: Email is easy to use. Users can send and receive communication by typing the message into an email editor. The interface of the editor is similar to Microsoft word which most people-using. computers are already familiar. Email allows you to electronically store the messages that are sent and received.

Address book and other productivity tools: Email is integrated with the address book, calendar, instant messaging, and other productivity tools that are available in Windows and other operating systems. speed: Email is delivered instantly to the recipient since it is done electronically. This

ensures that there is no delay unlike traditional mail,

Cost-effectiveness: Email usage is free on the Internet, unlike traditional mail. Therefore, it is highly desirable. For example, Gmail, Rediffmail, Yahoo mail, and so on.

Easy mail management: Email service providers provide multiple features that help you to easily manage your inbox. You can create different labels and assign them to emails to group them together. Additionally, you can filter, prioritize and send emails to different groups. An inbuilt mechanism identifies incoming spam and automatically directs it to the Spam folder.

Communication with multiple people: Internet email service allows users to communicate with multiple people at the same time. Therefore, an email can be addressed to multiple recipients, unlike a letter.

Accessibility: Email can be accessed anytime, anywhere, across the globe. Moreover, you can access it using a host of devices such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, and so on.