E-mail Privacy

In the workplace, technically you are not entitled to complete privacy in your email. It is after all, given to you so that you can do business on your employer's behalf.

Your email is the property of your employer and both yourself and your employer are liable for the contents. It is not intended for personal use and it can be viewed at any time, including after you leave even if you delete everything.

So how do you keep your personal email private when even the head of the CIA couldn't? His mistake was that he did not recognise the threat, and grossly underestimated it. His perceived threat was his spouse and didn't even conceive that the FBI would go looking through email servers.

Let's face it, anything that goes out over the Internet is at risk. To be honest, you should never put in an email anything you wouldn't want your mother to read.

That being said, if you want email privacy then there are steps you should take. You can mask your IP address which is traceable with any number of utilities that can accomplish that. I will not name names here since I am of the belief that one should have nothing to hide. Web mail providers like Google's Gmail and Yahoo keep log in records and IP addresses for 18 months.

In the U.S. the Fourth Amendment requires the authorities to get a warrant from a judge to search physical property. Rules governing e-mail searches are far more lax: Under the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, a warrant is not required for e-mails six months old or older. Even if e-mails are more recent, the federal government needs a search warrant only for “unopened” e-mail, according to the Department of Justice’s manual for electronic searches. The rest requires only a subpoena.

Did you know that U.S. law enforcement agencies requested data from Google for 16,281 accounts from January to June of 2012 alone, and Google complied in 90% of cases?

You can encrypt your email messages. Of course the encryption key is cumbersome and encryption does not hide the frequency of emails.

You can get a self-destruct timer, there is even one for your phone. It self-destructs the email address 10 minutes after a mail is sent. Nothing prevents your recipient from capturing screen shots though.

Saving emails into a shared Drafts folder rather than sending them doesn't work. This tactic had long been used by terrorists — Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and Richard Reid, “the shoe bomber,” among them — and it doesn’t work. E-mails saved to the draft folder are still stored in the cloud. Even if they are deleted, e-mail service providers can be compelled to provide copies.

You can use a separate device just for sensitive communications, but nothing yells philanderer/terrorist/drug dealer like a second cell phone.

Get an alibi. The sneakier you are, the weirder you look when you suddenly start carrying a second phone, a pager, become knowledgeable about encryption, etc.

Robust tools for privacy exist as they do for being anonymous, but they're just not integrated in a way that make them easy to use. All it takes is human error (reply to all, forgetting to mask your IP, and a couple dozen other ways to screw up), and your privacy is shot to heck.

The bottom line is that if you don't want what you say on a phone or in email to end up on the front page of a major metropolitan newspaper, then don't say it.

And Now For Something Completely Different

Check out Microsoft Server 2012:

http://aka.ms/wspromo19

 

Download for a 180 day trial. Receive email with resources to guide you.

 

The Windows Server 2012 evaluation software is available in Standard and Datacenter editions. You will be prompted to choose a version during the set-up and registration process.

ISO available in: Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish.

VHD available in: English

 

Backing Up Outlook Data

It's important to back up your data, all data - any data. It's no different with Outlook.

Reasons to back up Outlook data:

• Computer hard drive crash
• Corruption that can't be repaired
• Accidental deletion
• Damage to your storage medium (USB, CD, partition on your HDD, etc.)
• Save a tree, you won't have to print everything.
• Clean up and organise.
• Play it safe.
• Keep your sanity.

Data loss can happen to anyone, even a seasoned professional.

Before you can back up your data, you need to know where to locate it. The first thing you need to do is unhide system files, and hidden files and folders using Windows Explorer.

Microsoft covers this in their knowledge base (they cover most everything and are a good resource):

HTTP://support.Microsoft.com/KB/141276

Now you can search for your Outlook data file, also called Personal Folders, and known as a PST for short.

For Outlook 2007 and previous on Windows XP the default location is;
C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\

For Outlook 2007 and previous on Windows Vista and Windows 7 the default location is;
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\

For Outlook 2010 on Windows XP the default location is;
C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\My Documents\Outlook Files\

For Outlook 2010 on Windows Vista or Windows 7 the default location is;
C:\Users\%username%\Documents\Outlook Files\

You can also locate the file this way:

Right click the root folder (probably Outlook Today)-> Properties-> button Advanced-> field Filename

If you have multiple PST aka Data Files you can get an overview by clicking
  File-> Data File Management if you use Outlook 2007 or anything older
  File-> Account Settings-> Account Settings-> tab Data Files if you use Outlook 2010

NOTE: While making a copy of the PST-file will effectively backup your Outlook data, it will not include any mail account configuration settings (mail profile), templates or signatures.

Backing up the PST-file is quite easy; you just copy the PST-file to your safe location *while Outlook is closed.* A safe location can be one of the following;

• another physical hard drive in your machine
• another physical hard drive in another machine
• an external hard drive
• a USB memory stick
• a Flash memory card
• a CD-R(W)
• a DVD+/-R(W)
• a backup tape

I recommend running a backup whenever you make a significant change to the contents of your Outlook data file, or even daily.

For myself, I have written a small batch file that runs every evening after I close Outlook that copies my PST file to another drive on another computer.

The batch file reads like this: COPY %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Outlook\*.PST u:data\outlook /y

u:data\outlook is the location that my PST file is copied to. You can change it to suit your particular location.

It's written in Notepad, saved as a batch file. Then I use the Windows Scheduler to set it to run at my specified time. I have a copy of the batch file backed up in case I ever break it, delete it, do something stupid. I can wait for the scheduler to run at the appointed time but any time I close Outlook I can trigger a back up by simply double-clicking the batch file.

And as always, backing up Outlook will not work unless Outlook is CLOSED.

As always you can post questions on my blog if you want clarification or even help.    

  

Outlook's Command Line Switches

Outlook's command line switches are manually typed commands that help you to troubleshoot or even repair Outlook when it has problems. Some of them will allow you to automate Outlook's behaviour to a certain degree.

For example, you may have a reminder that just won't dismiss or maybe you find that you're sending multiple copies of an email you sent only once. Perhaps Outlook's behaviour and funtion has suddenly changed. The active window opens in the background instead of the foreground. For these behaviors and more, there are command line switches to either fix or help you troubleshoot the problem.

How you get to the command line to type in a switch depends on your Operating System. If you are using Vista or later, you can click on Start > Start Search and enter the command there. If you're using Windows XP or earlier, you can click on Start > Run > and then enter the desired command there.

For example, you have a reminder that won't go away and it annoys the heck out of you. There's a simple fix:

Windows XP and earlier: Start > Run > outlook.exe /cleanreminders (or click the Windows Logo + R)
(note that there is a space between outlook.exe and /cleanreminders)

Windows Vista and newer: Start > Start Search > outlook.exe /cleanreminders
(note that there is still the same space between outlook.exe and /cleanreminders

Above is a problem solving command.

A troubleshooting command would be to open Outlook in safe mode. A good reason for opening Outlook in safe mode is to disable all third party Add Ons to Outlook that might interfere with its normal function. Some operating systems will allow you to open Outlook in safe mode by simply holding down the Ctrl key while you open Outlook. Outlook then prompts you and asks if you want to continue opening Outlook in safe mode. Otherwise, you can type the command as follows:

Windows XP and earlier: Start > Run > outlook.exe /safe (or click the Windows Logo + R)
(note that there is a space between outlook.exe and /safe)

Windows Vista and newer: Start > Start Search > outlook.exe /safe
(note that there is still the same space between outlook.exe and /safe)

There are all kinds of things that can interfere with Outlook's normal function; antivirus that actively scans incoming/outgoing email, anti-spam, FAX software, synch software that works with your handheld, etc.

There are even command line switches that you can use for (limited) automation, such as always opening with Outlook displaying your calendar.

Here is a list of Outlook switches and what they can do for you:

Outlook Command Line Switches

And a great tutorial is found here: Outlook Command Line Switches Tutorial

As always, feel free to comment on my blog and even ask questions.