The Security Mentor

Some small business owners got a rude surprise when they discovered someone was routinely reading their business email.

Bradford Councilman ran a web site for rare and used book dealers. He also offered them email service. What the dealers didn't know was that he'd installed a program to make copies of their email so he could find out what his competitors were bidding. An appeals court in Massachussets just decided that he can get away with it.

OK, you probably don't get your email through a competitor. Technical people at your email provider can still read your email. They're always far too busy and usually too ethical to snoop. But they don't have to worry about getting caught if they're in Massachussets.

What about real life? How much risk is there? Well, imagine that you're in an industry like big-city construction and you have crooked competitors. What if they bribe a technician at your Internet service provider to intercept your "sealed" bids?

You can protect yourself in only two ways. One is to follow the Klingon proverb "If you do not want something heard, do not say it". Or you can keep using email, safely, by scrambling your messages with "encryption" software. Most of it is a pain to set up even if it's fairly easy to use. Hushmail is a fun exception. It's easy to set up and works like other web-based email services. It's easy to use if you can get your correspondents on Hushmail -- otherwise you have to hassle with annoying technical stuff.