Every email message is made up of the header and the body. The header has information about the origin of the email. The origin details include the address of the sender and who sent the mail. The body contains the message and the attachments. For a client to send an email, he/she must connect to the server to receive and send the messages. Different software allows clients to accomplish this. The server of email is a computer that runs on a windows or a UNIX operating system (Harwood, 2011). The computer has the software that allows it to manage the transmission and holding of messages. Receiving and sending the emails requires the internet through mail services like Yahoo and Gmail.
The email servers exchange emails. Information can leak in the server because all the computers that share one server allow easy access of the information. It is possible to disable the HTTP access but still information can be diverted to unintended locations. Organizations that use Microsoft Outlook for mails are vulnerable to information leak because people can synchronize their devices to receive information of the company. Information leak could also occur through SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol).
Preventing information leak is important because information is the most important resource for the organization. Preventive mechanisms involve the use of electronic mail message classifications. For the SMTP protocol, it is important to use the SSL to prevent information leakage (Shabtai et al., 2012). The operating system and the mail server software should always be up to date. The hardware must also be in a good working condition. The organization must also consider a single point that allows entry of electronic mails. Developing an incidence response team that has action plans is also an important part in preventing information leakage through electronic mail.
References
Harwood, M. (2011). Security strategies in Web applications and social networking. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Shabtai, A., Elovici, Y., & Rokach, L. (2012). A survey of data leakage detection and prevention solutions. New York: Springer.
