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Email 101

December 2016


Choosing an email provider

  • Some features to consider when choosing a provider:

    • Price

    • Storage space

    • Ease of use

    • Attachment size limitations

    • Access from relevant platforms (desktop, Web, mobile)

    • Other, integrated services (calendar, travel planner, social networking, and so forth)

  • There literally are a hundred or more providers from which you can choose.

    • And, yes … you can choose more than one.

    • In fact, some providers require that you have a second email provider so that the alternate address can be used as a “rescue” line!

  • Your best bet in choosing an email provider is to visit their websites, read online reviews, and compare services provided to meet your needs.

  • Some of the more popular providers; all provide both free and premium services.

    • Zoho Mail

    • Outlook.com (Microsoft) – If you’ve been using this a long time, your email address may end with hotmail.com or live.com.

    • Gmail (Google)

    • Yahoo Mail (Yahoo!)

    • ProtonMail – email is encrypted.

    • iCloud Mail (Apple)


Good or bad email?

  • Bad emails commonly are known as spam

  • Good emails commonly are known as ham

  • Spoofed emails are those messages that come from a forged sender address.

  • Phishing emails are spoofed emails that appear to come from a legitimate business in order to trick the recipient into sharing his/her personal (and usually financial) information.


Email clients

  • An email client is a program that you use to access and manage your email.

  • There are three basic types of clients:

    • Desktop clients – Programs run on desktop and notebook computers.

    • Client apps – Programs run on mobile devices.

    • Webmail clients – Accessed as a webpage through a browser on desktops, notebooks, and mobile devices.

  • Webmail clients are the easiest to access.

  • Pros:

    • They require no extra software installation.

    • You can access your email from any device with a browser (even your smart TV).

  • Cons:

    • If you have multiple email accounts, you must visit a different webpage for each account.

  • Desktop clients and apps generally provide more options.

  • Pros:

    • They let you manage multiple email accounts.

  • Cons:

    • They must be installed and set up, so you cannot easily move between computers.

  • Some of the more popular desktop/app clients:

    • Outlook (Microsoft)

    • Thunderbird (Mozilla)

    • Mailbird

    • Zimbra

    • Opera

    • Inky – A client that encrypts your email.


POP3 vs IMAP vs Exchange

  • When installing an email client program or app, you may be asked to choose between POP3, IMAP, and Exchange.

    • These are different protocols for accessing email.

  • Exchange is the protocol used by email servers running the Microsoft Exchange program.

    • If you have an OSU email address, this is the protocol you will use.

  • The POP3 and IMAP protocols are used on other mail servers.

  • Generally, IMAP is recommended when you want the ability to check your email from multiple devices.

    • A local copy of the email is made, but the original stays on the server.

  • POP3 is a better choice if you read your emails on a single device and have limited bandwidth.

    • Emails are downloaded to the local client, and then the original is deleted.


Encryption and signing

  • Encryption of a message provides security, but only works if the recipient can decrypt the message.

 email 101 image

  • Digital signing permits the sender to “sign” an email in such a way that the recipient can be assured that it came from the purported sender (or someone who has the sender’s private signing key).


Demos and questions

  • Let’s take a look at email access via webmail clients and desktop programs.

 

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