advice on e-mail

E-mail access methods

You can either use a stand-alone e-mail program or you can access your e-mail via the Web using your ISP's Web-based e-mail.

If you use a stand-alone e-mail program you have a further choice between the IMAP and POP3 protocols. Most people use IMAP.

E-mail programs (sometimes called e-mail clients) are usually a stand-alone software package but they may be bundled within a Web browser.

Using an e-mail program and IMAP

All your e-mails are stored on your provider's server but are also downloaded to your own computer. You can access your e-mail on the server on any computer.

• Pros: you have access to your e-mail when you are away from home; your e-mails are backed up by your provider; your provider may do spam filtering (but not always accurately).
• Cons: your e-mails are stored on your provider's server, which you may regard as potentially insecure if their server is hacked, or non-private if they analyse your e-mails for marketing purposes.

Using an e-mail program and POP3

The program downloads your e-mail to your computer and then (normally) deletes it from the mail server.

• Pros: your e-mails are not stored on your provider's server, which you may regard as more secure and private. Your data is therefore securely held by you (provided your computer is secure) and no-one else.
• Cons: you must take your own e-mail backups and do your own spam and virus filtering.

Web-based e-mail

Here, you don't use an e-mail program but access your e-mail via your e-mail provider's Web site. The pros and cons are the same as for using an e-mail program and IMAP. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) usually give you a choice of using either your own e-mail software or accessing your e-mail via their Web interface.

Free e-mail services

Free e-mail services, such as Gmail, BT Internet and Microsoft Outlook, sometimes sell your e-mail address to other companies, so you may receive lots of junk e-mail.

Choice of e-mail program

This is the most important piece of software you have (along with your browser) that must be resistant to viruses.

Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) allow you to use whatever e-mail software (and browser) you choose to access their services. Even if your browser is bundled with e-mail software, you can still choose to use an alternative (stand-alone) e-mail package if you want.

Vivaldi Mail has an advanced means of classifying your e-mail compared with the conventional method of holding e-mails in separate folders. It also offers advanced spam filtering which learns from your particular pattern of e-mail and so is potentially more accurate than generic methods of identifying spam.

Use anti-virus software

An anti-virus package is essential but don't let it give you a false sense of security — the other measures we outline on this page are also vital. Some viruses are known to disable anti-virus software. The vendors release new virus definitions several times a month but there is always a short delay following the appearance of a new virus (or variant), during which time you are vulnerable. Make sure that your virus definitions are updated regularly and automatically.

Choice of e-mail format

Many e-mail messages are in Plain Text format, that is, there are no bold or italic characters, no fancy typefaces and no colour. That's quite adequate for most e-mail: it's quick to prepare and fast and efficient to transmit.

Often there is an option for you to prepare e-mails in HTML format, so that the features mentioned above become possible. HTML is the format of Web pages, so the e-mail you send is like a mini Web page.

Not all e-mail software can read e-mails in HTML format and some users have the facility disabled (see below). E-mail in HTML format should therefore also contain the content in Plain Text format. If the recipient's e-mail software can't read the HTML version, it will instead display the Plain Text version.

HTML-formatted e-mails may contain a virus hidden within their code. If you receive an e-mail only in Plain Text, you can be certain that it does not contain a virus hidden within its body. However, viruses are more commonly transmitted as malicious code within an e-mail attachment and not within their body. The attachment is visible and may arouse your suspicions. The virus will be activated only if you open the attachment.

Some e-mail software has the facility to display incoming e-mails in Plain Text format where both formats exist. Setting this option will prevent viruses hidden in the body of e-mails from being executed.

Spam filtering

If you receive a lot of junk e-mail (spam) you can reduce the virus risk by using an effective means of spam filtering. An e-mail classified as spam will alert you to clicking on a malicious link or opening a malicious attachment.

If you use Web-based e-mail, your e-mail provider will probably give you a spam folder. Don't forget to check it regularly since it may not be very accurate at classifying correctly.

If you use e-mail software you have the ability to train your spam filter according to the nature of the e-mail (genuine and spam) that you receive. This is potentially much more accurate than the generic classification of Web-based e-mail. See our advice on spam.

Backups

Remember to include your e-mail folders in the regular backups you take of your work.