Email is insecure by its very nature. The goal of this service is to allow people to have private conversations, but they are about as secure as postcards. Let's say you have Gmail and are based in Oxford, and you want to send a message to someone who has Yahoo! and is based in San Francisco. In this particular case, your email will go through seven different interception points:
1. On your own computer
2. When moving to the Gmail server
3. When within the Gmail server
4. When transferring from Gmail to Yahoo!
5. When within the Yahoo! server
6. When moving to the Yahoo! inbox
7. On your friend's computer
That's seven times that someone could potentially pick up on your conversation. The seven points are known as a chain, and a chain can never be stronger than its weakest link. This is why you must do your best to find the most secure free email account, so that you build a strong chain.
Why Do You Need the Most Secure Free Email Account?
First of all, you may think you don't need any of this, since you're not a celebrity or the President of the United States. However, you are interesting nevertheless. There are three groups that want to see what you talk about in emails:
1. Government agencies like the NSA
2. Your email provider and the provider of the recipient
3. Organized criminals and hackers
Now, it is a known fact that email providers and the NSA can look into your emails. The reality is that they are not the smartest people on earth. So if they can get in, others can as well, and this has been proven time and again when accounts were hacked. But why would they want to get into your account at all?
1. The NSA performs both individual targeting and mass surveillance
2. Email providers want to make sure you are exposed to the right advertisements
3. Hackers want to get hold of your personal details for a variety of reasons, including identity theft.
How to Have More Security:
We know that email is insecure, and we also know that our online behavior tells a whole lot about who we are and what we do. One thing you can do is find the most secure free email account. Like Edward Snowden said, it is time we reset the net and stop asking for privacy, and taking it back instead. Similarly, Jacob Appelbaum said that all intelligence services are scared that we will find a secure form of communication. And we have, what is known as asymmetric encryption. This is a reasonably simple four-step approach.
Step 1 – Encrypt all your emails, for instance through PGP (Pretty Good Privacy).
Step 2 – Switch to provider that is not based in the USA. Geographical location is not a reliable method of protection, but it is a good start. Plus, the NSA will hate you for it. This is particularly true if you go really far afield. Forget Switzerland, Germany, or the United Kingdom. Find something in Kazakhstan or North Korea, for instance.
Step 3 – Don't believe your provider. They will tell you that they are fully secure, but they're not.
Step 4 – Host an email server of your own. Unfortunately, this does require some technical ability, although it isn't rocket science either.