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.

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.
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???