Network World
Friday, January 9, 2009
DNSstuff.com
Get information about your IP
IP Information
50+ On-demand DNS and network tools

Community

Navigation

IMAP access and security

Average: 4 (2 votes)

Is it safer to only access GMail through IMAP? That's they way I normally get my mail. I normally only log in when I want to do multiple tags on an email, and there may even be a way to do that from an email client.

Blass
Answer by Steve Blass

Expert's answer

Using an IMAP mail client for Gmail rather than the browser is safer in a couple of ways:

1) Google's instructions for configuring IMAP show that you need to enable SSL for incoming and outgoing mail where the browser interface can work with or without encryption.

2) You get the benefit that IMAP provides a coherent view of your mail from multiple mail clients and supported mobile devices which can save you from the problems that can come from using multiple POP clients with different message downloading settings which can lead to not being able to retrieve a message from Gmail because it got downloaded to a different computer than the one you are currently using.

If your favorite mail client is on Google's supported list you should be able to follow the instructions and be up and running in no time. If you use a mail client that does not yet have precise instructions posted there is a link to general guidelines for getting the parameter settings established for a successful connection.

Reply

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <i> <b> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <blockquote> <br /> <br> <p>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • You can use BBCode tags in the text.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Advertisement: