What is POP3 SSL?
In order to understand what POP3 SSL is, we must first review the essential functions and basic nature of POP3. As you remember, POP3 is a protocol through which one client may retrieve emails from a server. One counterpart to POP3 is IMAP. However, unlike IMAP, POP3 doesn’t support the viewing of emails from multiple devices, and it instead relies on a one-way pathway between the server and the email client.
The way that POP3 works is that email is sent from the server to the client and then deleted from the email server, leaving only the client where the email was downloaded able to view the email. This sits in stark contrast to IMAP, which allows one to view emails stored via an email server.
As with all other things, SSL being coupled with POP3 makes POP3 a more secure protocol. Having Secure Sockets Layer really does add an extra degree and layer of protection to the retrieval of emails through POP3.
Unlike POP3, POP3 SSL helps guard against the hacking and interception of emails by encrypting information along the network. The goal of this encryption is to make sure that no one but the server and the client are able to understand the email being sent. And, like with regular POP3, the email is deleted from the email server once the transfer is complete.
This makes POP3 SSL great for those who are emailing sensitive information. Though POP3’s one-way limitation makes it less common and less useful than IMAP, it is still around, and making sure that POP3 is secure is essential to protecting yourself from a variety of unfortunate events. Always making sure that your information is safeguarded is the single-most important thing you can do on the Internet.
Though it can be easy to be caught up in the anonymity of the Internet, we all leave traces and footprints, and if we don’t protect ourselves against them, there are preys who are looking to find us. By using SSL with POP3, you can help erase your footprints so that no one can follow them.
This helps protect you from possible identity theft, fraud, and other scary consequences of not protecting your data. Just as you would with your data in real life–your social security number for instance–you should always make sure that your tracks are covered online and that you don’t say something in front of the wrong people.
And, because it’s the Internet, you never know who’s listening. That’s what makes POP3 SSL so important.