email security

I've a question relating to email clients. I'm asking it here rather than in the Netscape and/or Outlook Express because asking it elsewhere would doubtless bring about more biased responses (and I'm looking for a more general response). Is one email client any more secure than another? For instance, is Thunderbird more secure than Outlook Express?

Charles, I know you are security-minded. If you don't mind my asking, which email client do you use? Why? How do you make it as secure as possible?

Thanks for any responses.

 

James--OE has several "Security" features, primarily on the OE Tools|Options|Security tab. Such as check the boxes for Restricted Zone, "Warn me... ", "Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened... ", and "Block images and other external content in HTML mail ". And on the Read tab, "Read all messages in plain text ".
Of course, you can install a third party spam blocker, though they will not do a perfect job.
The best way to protect yourself is to not open email from an unknown source and especially not to open attachments in such email.
Again in OE, you can read the message without opening it. File|Properties|Details|Message Source.
I may wrong, but I do not think other email clients will be much if any better from a security point of view.

 

Tony... Welshjim... thanks for the information.

I'm an ordinary kinda guy. My email is essentially to friends and family and never really has anything of a compromising nature in it. If I want to speak with a rep at my bank, I speak with him/her personally... never by email. I recognize that sending an email is like sending a postcard through the mail.

I don't really need encryption since it would require the same program running at the other end and that would discourage the few who do email me.

I guess I was really trying to make a comparison between a program like Thunderbird and Outlook Express (which I once used exclusively). It "seems" to me that TB is a bit safer in that it has a Junk filter which can be trained to sniff out potential trouble from the word go. It has a number of features that by default set it apart as safer (i.e. images not showing unless you click a button to make them come into view). Beyond that?

Just curious. Thanks, guys.

 

James The fact you are security conscious and want to be proactive is about 90% of the battle. Your email service provider should be scanning your email before its downloaded to your computer and your onboard anti-virus program should be scanning it as its coming in.

I use MailWasher to keep them both honest and to check my email.

When in doubt about an email, go to the email server and read the email.