Warning to gov't: Don't use free email services

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) released their review of key government agencies yesterday, stating that one of the key security vulnerabilities is the use of free email services like Hotmail and Gmail.

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Emails using public web‐based email services...can provide an easily accessible point of entry for an external attack and subject the agency to the potential for intended or unintended information disclosure.

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The report went on to recommend blocking all free email services, and this recommendation has been accepted and will become a reality starting July 1st this year. The report also noted that unpatched third-party software was another major security issue that needed to be addressed quickly.

I have never used a free email account for any business activities and strongly believe that they are a BIG risk for exposing private information. One thing I really don't understand is why so many people in this business use free gmail accounts??? We all have purchased domain names and paid for hosting, and that hosting always includes email access. So why use gmail???

Hey Luke,

You bring up some good points, I must admit I'm guilty in that I am a Gmail user. I guess I just really love all the features of Gmail and have grown so used to it.

What do you suggest for a server based email system that works well? I already pull emails from my Gmail to my Mac mail to back it up (and periodically delete the old emails in Gmail), but I like to have email that I can check online whenever I'm out.

I actually use gmail for many reasons, the main one being I can get all my emails even ones addressed to me at my domains all in one place, and can send via gmail's servers, so don't have to worry about setting up mail sending, problems with mail servers going down and so on.

Plus my gmail account is my adsense account, youtube account and lots of other things.

Plus its a Google Service, it's free, it is going to remain free, you won't get them adding charges on after your free trial has expired. So can't really knock it, free and reliable, plus many more features you won't get with paid services.

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Originally Posted by zBUCKzDanny

What do you suggest for a server based email system that works well?

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NationalNet has mynatmail, which is a version of Squirrel Mail that allows you to access your domain's email account via http. I can't really recommend other systems as I don't use them.

I have the choice between Natnet mail and Gmail and choose Gmail. It is simply better and has many more options to manage it all, IMHO. If some evil person wants to access your mail they will likely get it anyway. However, Gmail now has 2 factor authentication, so it is almost impossible to hack when you use that.

For only $10/year I have been using GoDaddy e-mail that comes with registering a domain. Unlimited space, 10 boxes, easy to set up rules, mailing lists, and most important - addresses that match my sites.

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I have the choice between Natnet mail and Gmail and choose Gmail. It is simply better and has many more options to manage it all, IMHO. If some evil person wants to access your mail they will likely get it anyway. However, Gmail now has 2 factor authentication, so it is almost impossible to hack when you use that.

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This is a good point. If a government agency wants your email, I'm sure they could just as easily force a hosting company to give it to them as they could Google.

So do you guys do all your emails via a web based system? I only use Outlook on my PC...are the days of Outlook and other local-based email programs pretty much gone?

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So do you guys do all your emails via a web based system? I only use Outlook on my PC...are the days of Outlook and other local-based email programs pretty much gone?

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I don't think so, but I think a lot of people like to use both. Since many of us have multiple computers, in addition to mobile devices, ipads, etc. we need to check mail from, it is convenient to have a good online email system to check mail from, and nothing that I know of beats Gmail. At the same time, I would recommend people to back-up their email frequently with a trusty local based program, and delete any sensitive information in your free accounts.

I use Thunderbird, also easy to setup to work with Google's POP3 or IMAP over secure connections. Plus, I integrated Google calendar into it and it all works like a charm.

one good reason to use a gmail account is that their spam filter kicks ass.. i have not found anything that is as effective at keeping spam out of my inbox as gmail is. :aniflow:

I like GMAIL 'cos I like its portability.

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Originally Posted by HunkMoneyLuke

So do you guys do all your emails via a web based system? I only use Outlook on my PC...are the days of Outlook and other local-based email programs pretty much gone?

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I actually use both, I use Windows Live Mail, but set up my Gmail to archive messages accessed with Windows Live Mail so I can access them from wherever I want. I often don't take my laptop with me, but may need to access an email.

So I basically have access to all my emails from anywhere, plus have a copy stored on my PC and Laptop.