Cybersecurity Guidance By Realising Designs & The Forge Partnership

Protecting and Securing emails

Securing your emails is an important aspect of protecting your business from cyber threats. By implementing security measures and following best practices, you can reduce the risk of your emails being compromised or your personal information being exposed. Here are some tips for securing your emails:

  1. Use a reputable email provider that offers security features such as encryption and spam protection.
  2. Enable two-factor authentication for your email account to add an extra layer of security.
  3. Use strong and unique passwords for your email account and avoid sharing them with others.
  4. Be cautious when clicking on links or downloading attachments from unfamiliar sources.
  5. Avoid entering personal or sensitive information in emails, especially if they are not encrypted.
  6. Use caution when responding to unexpected emails or messages, especially those that contain a sense of urgency or request personal information.

Exchange, Office 365, and Google’s G Suite are popular email and collaboration platforms that offer many benefits for small businesses compared to using IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) alone. Some of the reasons why these platforms may be better for small businesses include:

  • Improved security: Exchange, Office 365, and G Suite offer enhanced security features such as encryption and two-factor authentication to protect your business’s email and data.
  • Enhanced collaboration: These platforms offer a range of collaboration tools, such as calendar and document sharing, which can help improve productivity and collaboration within your business.
  • More reliable: Exchange, Office 365, and G Suite are hosted by large, reliable companies and offer a higher level of uptime and reliability compared to self-hosted IMAP servers.
  • Better support: These platforms offer a range of support options, including online resources and customer support, to help you troubleshoot any issues you may encounter.

Overall, Exchange, Office 365, and G Suite offer a range of features and benefits that can help small businesses improve their email and collaboration capabilities and protect their data.

Backing up email

Here is a step-by-step guide to backing up IMAP emails on Outlook:

  • Open Outlook and go to the File tab.
  • Click the “Open & Export” button and select “Import/Export” from the dropdown menu.
  • Select “Export to a file” and click the “Next” button.
  • Select “Outlook Data File (.pst)” as the file type and click the “Next” button.
  • Select the email folders that you want to include in the backup and click the “Next” button.
  • Choose a location to save the backup file and give it a name.
  • Click the “Finish” button to begin the backup process.
  • Once the backup is complete, click the “Close” button.

Here is a step-by-step guide to backing up IMAP emails on Mac Mail:

  • Open Mac Mail and go to the “Mail” menu.
  • Select “Export Mailbox” and choose a location to save the backup file.
  • Select the email folders that you want to include in the backup and click the “Export” button.
  • Wait for the export process to complete and click the “Done” button.

Backing up emails manually, such as by exporting them to a file, can be a time-consuming and error-prone process. There are several risks associated with manually backing up emails, including:

  • Data loss: If the backup process is not done correctly, important emails may be missed or lost.
  • Data corruption: If the backup file becomes corrupted, the emails may be lost or inaccessible.
  • Incomplete backups: If the backup process is not thorough, important emails may be missed.
  • Time-consuming: Manually backing up emails can be a time-consuming process, especially for businesses with large volumes of email data.

To mitigate these risks, it is recommended that businesses use automated backup solutions that can handle large volumes of email data and ensure a complete and accurate backup. Automated solutions can also be scheduled to run regularly, ensuring that your business’s email data is always protected.