Web-based email may be exposing you to privacy and security problems you didn't expect

Web-based email is booming. Services such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail are convenient, accessible and, best of all, free. Many of us have come to rely on them without giving it a second thought.

But second thoughts may be in order, according to security experts, privacy advocates and some Webmail users. Few consider the fact that Webmail is inherently different than POP3 email. It differs in who administers it and how, in the ways it may be vulnerable to hacking, and in the type of help you can expect when you have a problem.

You may not think these differences matter. And they don't -- unless they end up biting you in the backside. For example, the most popular Webmail services are prime targets of malicious hackers. Some Webmail users run into mysterious technical problems that are never explained or solved. And most Webmail users never really know where their data is being stored or for how long -- or how well it is being safeguarded.

An article by Tam Harbert, ComputerWorld.com.au