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| Book Review: The Mind of the Terrorist Understanding Your Computer: Email Clients How to Survive a Mugging |
National Homeland Security Knowledgebase

| The main difference between email clients is the user interface.
Regardless of which software you decide to use, follow good security
practices when reading or sending email.
How do email clients work?
Every email address has two basic parts: the user name and the domain
name. When you are sending email to someone else, your domain's server
has to communicate with your recipient's domain server.
For example, let's assume that your email address is
johndoe@example.com, and the person you are contacting is at
janesmith@anotherexample.org. In very basic terms, after you hit send,
the server hosting your domain (example.com) looks at the email
address and then contacts the server hosting the recipient's domain
(anotherexample.org) to let it know that it has a message for someone
at that domain. Once the connection has been established, the server
hosting the recipient's domain (anotherexample.org) then looks at the
user name of the email address and routes the message to that account.
How many email clients are there? There are many different email clients and services, each with its own interface. Some are web-based, some are stand-alone graphics-based, and some are text-based. The following are some well-known email programs: Web-based
How do you choose an email client? There is usually an email client included with the installation of your operating system, but many other alternatives are available. Be wary of "home-brewed" software, because it may not be as secure or reliable as software that is tested and actively maintained. Some of the factors to consider when deciding which email client best suits your needs include:
Can you have use more than one email client? You can have more than one email client, although you may have issues with compatibility. Some email accounts, such as those issued through your internet service provider (ISP) or place of employment, are only accessible from a computer that has appropriate privileges and settings for you to access that account. You can use any stand-alone email client to read those messages, but if you have more than one client installed on your machine, you should choose one as your default. When you click an email link in a browser or email message, your computer will open that default email client that you chose. Most vendors give you the option to download their email software directly from their web sites. Make sure to verify the authenticity of the site before downloading any files, and follow other good security practices, like using a firewall and keeping anti-virus software up to date, to further minimize risk. You can also maintain free email accounts through browser-based email clients (e.g., Yahoo!, Hotmail, Gmail) that you can access from any computer. Because these accounts are maintained directly on the vendors' servers, they don't interfere with other email accounts. _________________________________________________________________ Both the National Cyber Security Alliance and US-CERT have identified this topic as one of the top tips for home users._________________________________________________________________ Author: Mindi McDowell _________________________________________________________________ Courtesy of US-CERT, a government organization. Courtesy World Protection Group.
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