Updates the Email section

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Alicia Sykes 2020-04-28 21:26:17 +01:00 committed by GitHub
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@ -103,20 +103,22 @@ For more browser security pointers, check out: [Heres How To Get Solid Browse
Nearly 50 years since the first email was sent, theyre still very much a big part of our day-to-day life, and will probably continue to be for the near future. So considering how much trust we put in them, its surprising how fundamentally insecure this infrastructure is. Email-related fraud [is on the up](https://www.csoonline.com/article/3247670/email/email-security-in-2018.html), and without taking basic measures you could be at risk. Nearly 50 years since the first email was sent, theyre still very much a big part of our day-to-day life, and will probably continue to be for the near future. So considering how much trust we put in them, its surprising how fundamentally insecure this infrastructure is. Email-related fraud [is on the up](https://www.csoonline.com/article/3247670/email/email-security-in-2018.html), and without taking basic measures you could be at risk.
If a hacker gets access to your emails, it provides a gateway for your other accounts to be compromised, therefore email security is paramount for your digital safety. If a hacker gets access to your emails, it provides a gateway for your other accounts to be compromised (through password resets), therefore email security is paramount for your digital safety.
The big companies providing "free" email service, don't have a good reputation for respecting users privacy: Gmail was caught giving [third parties full access](https://www.wsj.com/articles/techs-dirty-secret-the-app-developers-sifting-through-your-gmail-1530544442) to user emails and also [tracking all of your purchases](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/17/google-gmail-tracks-purchase-history-how-to-delete-it.html). Yahoo was also caught scanning emails in real-time [for US surveillance agencies](http://news.trust.org/item/20161004170601-99f8c) Advertisers [were granted access](https://thenextweb.com/insider/2018/08/29/both-yahoo-and-aol-are-scanning-customer-emails-to-attract-advertisers) to Yahoo and AOL users messages to “identify and segment potential customers by picking up on contextual buying signals, and past purchases.”
It's strongly advised not to use non end-to-end encrypted email, if you can't you should at least follow these guides for simple steps to improve security: [Yahoo](https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/complete-guide-e-mail-security/#yahoo), [Gmail](https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/complete-guide-e-mail-security/#gmail), [Outlook](https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/complete-guide-e-mail-security/#outlook) and [AOL](https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/complete-guide-e-mail-security/#aol). The easiest way to stay protected is to use a secure mail provider, such as [ProtonMail](https://protonmail.com/) or [Tutanota](https://tutanota.com/).
**Security** | **Priority** | **Details and Hints** **Security** | **Priority** | **Details and Hints**
--- | --- | --- --- | --- | ---
**Have more than one email address** | Recommended | Keeping your important and safety-critical messages separate from trivial subscriptions such as newsletters is a very good idea. Be sure to use different passwords. This will also make recovering a compromised account after an email breach easier. **Have more than one email address** | Recommended | Keeping your important and safety-critical messages separate from trivial subscriptions such as newsletters is a very good idea. Be sure to use different passwords. This will also make it easier to recover a compromised account, in the case of a breach
**Keep security in mind when logging into emails** | Recommended | Your email account is one of the most important to protect with a secure password. Only sync your emails with your phone, if it is secured (encrypted with password). Dont allow your browser to save your email password. Prevent man-in-the-middle attacks by only logging in on a secured browser. **Keep security in mind when logging into emails** | Recommended | Your email account should be top of your priorities in terms of security. Use a strong password and enable 2-Factor authentication. Only sync your emails with your phone, if it is secured (encrypted with password). Follow [browser](#browser-and-search) and [networking](#networking) best practices when logging in to your account
**Always be wary of phishing and scams** | Recommended | If you get an email from someone you dont recognize, dont reply, dont click on any links, and absolutely dont download an attachment. Keep an eye out for senders pretending to be someone else, such as your bank, email provider or utility company. Check the domain, read it, ensure its addressed directly to you, and still dont give them any personal details. Check out [this guide, on how to spot phishing emails](https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/abcs-detecting-preventing-phishing/). **Always be wary of phishing and scams** | Recommended | If you get an email from someone you dont recognize, dont reply, dont click on any links, and absolutely dont download an attachment. Keep an eye out for senders pretending to be someone else, such as your bank, email provider or utility company. Check the domain, read it, ensure its addressed directly to you, and still dont give them any personal details. Check out [this guide, on how to spot phishing emails](https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/abcs-detecting-preventing-phishing/).
**Disable automatic loading of remote content in emails** | Recommended | Sometimes advertisers send emails which make reference to remote images, fonts, etc. If these remote resources are loaded automatically, they indicate to the sender that this specific email was received by you. **Disable Automatic Loading of Remote Content** | Recommended | Email messages can contain remote content such as images or stylesheets. These are often automatically loaded from the server. But to protect your privacy, you should disable this, because when your mail client or browser requests this content, your IP address and device information is revealed to the server. For more info, see [this article](https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/3/20680903/email-pixel-trackers-how-to-stop-images-automatic-download)
**Dont share sensitive information over email** | Optional | Emails are very very easily intercepted. Also you cant know how secure your recipient's environment is. Dont share anything personal, such as bank details, passwords, and confidential information over email. Ideally, dont use email as a primary method of communication. **Don't Share Sensitive Data via Email** | Optional | Emails are very easily intercepted. Further to this you cant be sure of how secure your recipient's environment is. Therefore emails cannot be considered safe for exchanging confidential or personal information, unless it is encrypted
**Dont connect third-party apps to your email account** | Optional | If you give a third-party app (like Unroll.me) full access to your inbox, this makes you vulnerable to cyber attacks. The app can be compromised and, as a consequence, cyber criminals would gain unhindered access to all your emails and their contents. **Dont connect third-party apps to your email account** | Optional | If you give a third-party app or plug-in (such as Unroll.me, Boomerang, SaneBox etc) full access to your inbox, this makes you vulnerable to cyber attacks. Once installed, these apps have unhindered access to all your emails and their contents
**Consider switching to a more secure email provider** | Optional | Email providers such as [ProtonMail](https://protonmail.com), [CounterMail](https://countermail.com), [HushMail](https://www.hushmail.com/tapfiliate/?tap_a=44784-d2adc0&tap_s=724845-260ce4&program=hushmail-for-small-business) (for business users) or [MailFence](https://mailfence.com?src=digitald) allow for end-to-end encryption, full privacy as well as more security-focused features. See [this guide](https://github.com/OpenTechFund/secure-email) for details of the inner workings of these services. **Consider switching to a secure email provider** | Optional | Secure and reputable email providers such as [ProtonMail](https://protonmail.com) and [Tutanota](https://tutanota.com) allow for end-to-end encryption, full privacy as well as more security-focused features. Unlike typical email providers, nobody but you can see your mailbox, since all messages are encrypted. See [this guide](https://github.com/OpenTechFund/secure-email) for details of the inner workings of these services. Other encrypted mail providers include: [CounterMail](https://countermail.com), [HushMail](https://www.hushmail.com/tapfiliate/?tap_a=44784-d2adc0&tap_s=724845-260ce4&program=hushmail-for-small-business) (for business users), [MailFence](https://mailfence.com?src=digitald), [see more](/5_Privacy_Respecting_Software.md#encrypted-email). For a comparison between services, see [this article](https://restoreprivacy.com/private-secure-email)
**Use Aliasing / Anonymous Forwarding** | Advanced | Email aliasing allows messages to be sent to [anything]@my-domain.com and still land in your primary inbox. Effectively allowing you to use a different, unique email address for each service you sign up for. This means if you start receiving spam, you can block that alias and determine which company leaked your email address. <br>[Anonaddy](https://anonaddy.com) is an open source anonymous email forwarding service allowing you to create unlimited email aliases, with a free plan. As is [33Mail](http://33mail.com/Dg0gkEA), and this feature is also included with [ProtonMail](https://protonmail.com/pricing)'s Visionary package. **Use Aliasing / Anonymous Forwarding** | Advanced | Email aliasing allows messages to be sent to [anything]@my-domain.com and still land in your primary inbox. Effectively allowing you to use a different, unique email address for each service you sign up for. This means if you start receiving spam, you can block that alias and determine which company leaked your email address. <br>[Anonaddy](https://anonaddy.com) and [SimpleLogin](https://simplelogin.io/?slref=bridsqrgvrnavso) are open source anonymous email forwarding service allowing you to create unlimited email aliases, with a free plan. More options include: [33Mail](http://33mail.com/Dg0gkEA), [ForwardEmail](https://forwardemail.net) (self-hosted), [SimpleLogin](https://simplelogin.io/?slref=bridsqrgvrnavso), and this feature is also included with [ProtonMail](https://protonmail.com/pricing)'s Visionary package.
**Use a Custom Domain** | Advanced | When you don't own your email domain name, the organisation providing it may not be around for ever, and you could loose access to all accounts that were registered with that email. However with a custom domain, even if your mail provider ceases to exist, or you are locked out, you can take your domain elsewhere and continue to have access to your email address.
**See also** [Recommended Encrypted Email Providers](/5_Privacy_Respecting_Software.md#encrypted-email) **See also** [Recommended Encrypted Email Providers](/5_Privacy_Respecting_Software.md#encrypted-email)