Emails don’t have an envelope
When the e-mail (electronic mail = electronic letter) was invented, the priority was to develop digital communication channels. Data protection was not yet high on the agenda at the time. Accordingly, the basic protocols required to send an e-mail were not developed to offer the greatest possible level of data protection. Now that e-mail has spread and has become one of the most important means of communication in the digital world, we must therefore think about more intensive data protection. One option is one VPN downloadto transfer your own data anonymously and encrypted.
Anyone who understands an e-mail as a letter often has an envelope in front of them that can be sent by post. This picture is not entirely true. Rather, an e-mail is similar to a postcard that is sent without an envelope. In principle, it is thus possible for what is on the postcard to be read during the dispatch process. However, there are various ways to secure an email and – to keep in mind – to pack it in an envelope.
An email goes through different servers
There is no direct contact between the sender and recipient of an email. This means that a sent e-mail cannot be sent directly from the sender’s computer to the sender. Instead, the email is first forwarded to the selected service provider. For example, those who use a Gmail account have chosen Google as their provider. After a few test steps have been carried out by the provider (see below), the mail is forwarded to the recipient.
It is entirely possible that the recipient uses a different provider than the sender. The transmission process still takes place without any problems. However, it can happen that not only the servers of the two providers are activated during the transmission process. Instead, an e-mail is sent through the Internet while it is being sent and traverses different servers. As soon as it has arrived at the recipient’s provider, he can download it.
The email is checked during the sending process
The individual providers use software robots to check the emails that have been sent or received. This is to ensure that no malware was sent with the email. If the mail is classified as secure, the recipient can easily download it. However, if a virus or other malware is discovered, a security warning is issued and you are advised not to download the e-mail.
The providers also examine the quality of the email sent. Some of them show certain patterns to indicate that they are most likely unsolicited spam email. These do not necessarily have to contain malware, but are of no use to the recipient. If an email is classified as spam, it is not sent to the recipient’s inbox but ends up in the spam folder. It stays here for a specified time until it is permanently deleted. The recipients can then decide whether the email is actually spam or whether they want to download it.
The content of an email is scanned for specific keywords
Google in particular is known as a provider for the fact that every single email is scanned by robots. On the one hand, this serves as a service for users. If an email contains the word “attached” but no attachment is included, Google will ask if there is an error here. In particular, however, the company is concerned with collecting information. The better the group knows what topics its users are dealing with, the easier it is to make individual offers.
The e-mails scanned by the robots are not read by Google, but are examined for certain keywords. These are then collected as information in order to get an idea of the respective users. This then gives the company the opportunity to place individual advertising that is tailored to the interests of the user. This increases the likelihood that users will feel addressed by an advertisement and that Google will generate money from it.
Theoretically, it is possible that an email is also read
It is extremely unlikely that an e-mail will be read by unauthorized persons. However, it is technically possible. On the one hand, there are some administrators who have the right to read certain emails. They also use Law enforcement and intelligence agencies the possibility of intercepting and reading e-mails in the event of certain suspicious factors. The users then usually do not notice this.
In addition to such legal opportunities to access e-mails, there are also repeated illegal attacks. Cyber criminals try to obtain valuable personal data through spying. They then use this, for example, to enrich themselves at the expense of the injured party or to blackmail them with special knowledge. Reason enough to take every opportunity to protect your own e-mails from such unauthorized access. One option is the aforementioned VPN download.
Take measures to protect an email
If you are concerned about the security of your data, you should encrypt individual emails. The OpenPGP standard in particular is a good way of preventing unauthorized persons from reading your e-mails. Currently, comparatively few people still use the option of encryption. Many trust their providers and their services. However, if really important topics are being dealt with and confidential information is being exchanged, encryption should be used as an additional security tool.
If you want an email to be particularly secure, it is advisable to disguise the metadata as well. As a result, outsiders cannot even understand who communicated with whom. It should be noted, however, that many, sometimes complicated, technical requirements are required in order to be able to encrypt the metadata. This is why this step should only be used if really important emails with sensitive data are being sent.
December 01, 2020