Email security is not about using the best of the breed encryption and digital signing algorithms; it has also to do with how the users are using their emails.

There are multiple factors that affect the security of emails. These factors among other may be mismanagement of email accounts, emailing the wrong people, not performing regular record keeping or backups of mail boxes, inability to identify and avoid fraudulent emails, inability to avoid malware and inability to keep the hackers at bay.

Let us examine each of the factors one by one and try to identify points under each of those major mistakes to narrow down on the granular mistakes.

Mismanagement of Email Accounts

- Only using one single email account.

- Having access to or holding spammed-out emails accounts for very long.

- Keeping the webpage open for long even after logging off from email accounts.

- Forgetting regular maintenance options like deletion of cache, browsers history and passwords.

- Use of not so secure or in other words insecure mail accounts for sending and receiving corporate information that might be sensitive.

- Not using the telephone often where they are a better option than sending an email.

Emailing the wrong people

- Forgetting to use the bcc or the blind carbon copy option.

- Unnecessary use of "reply all" feature.

- Accidental spamming through the forward option.

Not performing regular record keeping or regular backups of mail boxes

- Forgetting to backup mail boxes.

- Use of mobile emails; under the false sense of online backup.

- Presuming that deleted emails are deleted forever.

Inability to identify and avoid fraudulent emails

- Making oneself believe that they have won a million bucks through email lottery and such other scam emails.

- Inability to identify phishing emails.

- Sending and receiving financial and personal information via insecure email.

- Unsubscribing newsletters, never been subscribed personally.

Inability to avoid malware

- Blind trust in a friend’s email.

- Mere deletion of SPAM emails rather than blacklisting them (what is a spam filter?)

- Accidental or deliberate deactivation of SPAM filter option of email accounts.

- Forgetting to scan all emails and their attachments.

Inability to keep the hackers at bay

- Deliberate sharing or account information.

- Using passwords that are easy to guess.

- Failure in encrypting important emails.

- Failing to encrypt the wireless connection.

- Failing or forgetting to use digital signatures.