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Keep it secure
We are all aware of the potential for credit card fraud and the risks involved with revealing personal details over an internet connection that is anything less than secure. However, when it comes to sending email we are a little more blasé. Even if the contents of those messages don’t hold financial details there is always the possibility that they may contain information of a personal nature.

There is also the small matter of what happens to your email message when you click on ‘Send’ and it leaves your PC. You need to be aware that the route your message takes over the internet is not a direct one.

As your email makes its way around the network it passes through many servers before reaching its final destination. Also, many of these systems will be making backups of all the data that passes through them, which means your email message may have a life span that’s longer than you ever intended. Most of these backups are made only to protect data, but there’s always the outside chance that somebody could intercept it.

The sheer volume of email buzzing around the internet every hour is staggering, and the chances that someone would bother to check up on yours are remote in the extreme. However, it pays to take note that email is not a secure means of communication. It wasn’t designed to send confidential information, and that’s why banks and other financial institutions never use it to discuss your account. That’s how we know that any email supposedly from our bank asking for account details is evidence of a scam.

That’s not to say you can’t get a certain amount of privacy in an email. Hushmail uses encryption technology to protect the connection between your PC and its mail server, and offers a modicum of security that will certainly protect you against the average snooper. It’s not 100 per cent safe, though ­ learn more about Hushmail here.

Receiving files
Viruses disguised as genuine email attachments still cause problems for internet users the world over. Organised criminals are cunning in their attempts to get individuals to open email messages and take a look at these attachments. It all begins with a cleverly written subject line, followed by a tempting message in the body of the email. Common examples include ‘exclusive’ celebrity news or photographs, free software, screensavers or links to pornographic material. If the attachment is opened and the PC in question doesn’t have adequate anti-virus security, you can expect big problems.

The attachment may be an executable file that infects your computer with software that uses your email connection to send out reams of spam or attempts to steal personal information from your computer. Even if an email comes from a trusted source you cannot be sure it’s free from infection. The PC of the sender may have become infected and the message is probably being sent without their knowledge.