Mail Server and iPhone 6 Encryption

Email is very critical for business communication, although, many businesses organizations outsource their web-based services such as Google Apps or iCloud, however, these services are not a good option for businesses in possession of the critical data. Moreover, some organizations claim that the outsourced business emails are costs effective than hosting a private email server, nevertheless, the benefits of hosting private email servers outnumber its shortcomings. For example, it is not businesswise to trust a third party to safeguard sensitive business data, and if the data is compromised or stolen by hackers, the organization can face the risk of lawsuits, court fines and consequent loss of revenue. Thus, it is beneficial for organizations to develop their email servers rather than allowing a third party to manage their emails.

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the benefits that organizations can derive from hosting a private mail server.

Advantages of Hosting Private Mail Server

Different benefits that organizations can derive from hosting their private email servers rather than allowing other organizations to host their email servers fort them.

Mail gets to you faster ?

A faster email is one of the benefits of owning a private email server since the email is quickly delivered across the company. When a company does not have its email serves and is using a third party for email hosting, its email incoming messages will be routed through a distant server before they are delivered to the company email. Depending how slow a distant server, the message may be not be delivered on time. However, organizations with their private mail server will eliminate the lag time between sending messages and receiving messages. Thus, organizations are able to keep their communication flow and smoothly by maintaining their private email servers. In the contemporary business environment, effectively communication is very critical for the competitive business advantages. Inefficient email communication can make organizations to lose a trust of business partners. For example, a third party email company may not be able to distinguish between the important emails and mail spam. In essence, they may mistakenly deliver the important emails in the spam which may make a business organization to lose important messages. However, if organizations have their private mail servers, they will be able to distinguish between important message and spam messages, which will make the organizations receiving message on time and the critical message will not be delivered in the spam box.

A built-in autoresponder is another a huge benefit of having private server. For example, a software can be integrated in the email server, which assists in auto-responding the email messages thereby save the organizations enormous time to reply the message. Moreover, a private mail server can be used for a marketing purpose. For example, businesses can use the auto-responders to distribute information about their products and services making businesses to interact with their customers effectively. Additionally, a private mail server can make an organization to distribute the email messages to large group of people. For example, a private email server can assist businesses to create an email distribution or send message to different people in group.

Privacy

Privacy is the other benefits of a private mail servers. Typically, allowing other companies to host the company emails is risky because the organization will be forced to trust their private data and private business communication with the third party company. However, when organizations host their private email servers, they are sure to be in total control of their private data. Integration of effective security is very critical to enhance total privacy of data. For example, the PGD (pretty good privacy) assists in providing end-to-end effective security for the organization. The use of the authenticity also assists in enhancing the privacy of the email servers.

Moreover, organizations will be able in total control of their privacy and private data. For example, organizations will be able to have a full control of policies that govern their data. The major benefit of owning a private email server is that all the company information will be stored in the private server because there will a total privacy when an administrator has access to the account. More importantly, the organization will be able to have a total control of their hardware and software by having their email servers and integrate the necessary security platform to protect their private information. Essentially, an organization can never trust other organizations to provide adequate security for their private data, however, when organizations host their private email server, they will be able to integrate different necessary security platforms to enhance their privacy. Moreover, organizations will be able to integrate the multi-purpose and secured internet mail extensions to enhance the privacy of communication and security of the company data. (Cristian, & Melanie, 2013).

Full control of Anti-spam and Anti-virus Programs ?

A potential benefit of a private email server is its ability to filter the spam. Typically, an organization can create a rule whereby the email messages that come from specific senders will be automatically deleted thereby make the business to keep the email servers out of spam. It is essential to realize that keeping out several spams can be an headache to a business organization if there is no private email server that does not have anti-spamming built-in features. Thus, the private email server can be designed in such a way it will have spam blocking features. More importantly, a private email server can be used to block DoS (denial-of-service) attack. For example, attack can send a flood of unnecessary email messages to an organization, which will make their mail box filled with non-essential emails. The private email servers can be used to blocks the spam reaching the email boxes. Moreover, a private email servers can be designed with an integration of the multiple anti-spam filters that combine IP reputation filtering, grey-listing, Bayesian filtering, Spam-Razer technology as well as other advance spam filtering technologies having abilities to protect an organization from spam and safe delivering of important messages.

An integration of antivirus is another benefit of a private email server. An antivirus is used against Trojan horse, viruses, and malware attacks in the outgoing and incoming emails. Moreover, the private email server assists in using the multiple anti-virus engines to prevent virus attacks making an organization to gain maximum control of the email environment. (Butterfield, Tracy, and Jansen,2007).

Faster Internal Mail ?

One major benefit of a private email server is its ability to deliver faster internal mail. In the contemporary business organizations, increasing number of organizations prefer using the internal email to communicate rather than using the email address for communication. Achieving effective communication security and privacy is one of the benefits of internal email. Typically, the internal email is an effective strategy that organizations can employ to distribute the memos, newsletters, business messages, and other important messages. In the present business environment, large organizations with hundreds or thousands of employees prefer using the internal emails to assist in fast delivering of messages and receive fast response. Apart from assisting organizations to deliver message at a faster rate, other benefits of internal mail is that it protects organizations from receiving spam messages from undesirable individuals. It is essential to realize that only employees are allowed to use the internal mail, which assists in fast delivery of messages. Moreover, the internal mail system is an effective tool to prevent unauthorized individuals from hijacking the messages sent from email to email thereby assist in developing maximum security for the company messages. Moreover, the internal email system assists organizations to deliver branded, timely and streamlined communication to employees thereby drive up the employees’ loyalty and engagement. Typically, the internal email system will assist organization to develop graphically rich, highly relevant, and consistent organized newsletters. Using the private email server, organizations can easily track the response and readership rates of newsletters.

No waiting to add New Users

One of the benefits of the private email servers is that it allows the authorized new users to subscribe automatically to the new email systems. This benefit is particularly advantageous to organizations that recruit new staff nearly everyday. Moreover, the private email servers are advantageous to universities that offer students admissions virtually every three months. In essence, the private email server is beneficial to these category of the organizations because the email server will automatically assign the corporate emails to the new employees and students thereby safe organizations enormous amount time to assign email to an individual user manually. The private email server is particularly advantageous to university institutions that admit thousands of students every three months. Moreover, the private email servers are advantageous to organizations that offer corporate emails to a new user upon subscriptions. Thus, if these organization receive thousands of new subscribers every day, the email servers will automatically assign the corporate emails to the new users. Assigning emails to new subscribers manually is not cost effective. Apart saving the organizations enormous amount of time, the email server is very cost effective. Typically, many third party organizations that assist in hosting email servers do not provide these type of features. Even if they provide the benefits, they charge extra fees, which may not be cost effective for the organizations using the external vendor to manage their private emails.

2. Question a. Apple’s iPhone Data Encryption

In the contemporary business environment, increasing number of companies are developing innovative products to be ahead of the competitors and achieving competitive market advantages. The goal to dominate iPhone markets make Apple Inc. to develop a sophisticated iPhone 6 that has ability to encrypt emails, contacts and photo

“based on a complex mathematical algorithm that uses a code created by, and unique to, the phone’s user. Breaking the code, could take more than 5 1/2 years to try all combinations of a six-character alphanumeric passcode with lowercase letters and numbers.” (Sanger, & Chen 2014 p 1).

Sheldon, (2015) argues that Apple takes the advantages of data security to develop iPhone 6 with sophisticated data encryption system. The technology behind the new iPhone is that Apple builds in the iOS encryption that delivers a powerful system to secure sensitive data and information. The built-in encryption in the phone consists of AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with the 256-bit crypto engine between the main system memory and flash storage. Typically, the engine is in conjunction of SHA-1 cryptographic function. The AES 256-bit key assists in making data to be cryptographically tied to a specific device, which are not related to other device or identifier. The Apple builds the encryption on the physical architecture to assist an easy encryption of all data stored in the phone .

“Moreover, the encryption and decryption operations associated with each class are based on a complex key hierarchy that utilizes the device’s UID and passcode, plus a class key, file system key and per-file key. The per-file key is used to encrypt the file content. The class key is wrapped around the per-file key and stored in the file’s metadata. The file system key is used to encrypt the metadata. The UID and passcode protect the class key.” (Sheldon, 2015 p 4).

Typically, Apple claims that the brute force attacks will take 2.5 years to decode all the possible combinations, however, it will take an ordinary attacker 5.5 years to decode the 6-character passcode.

Question b. Support in favor of the iPhone Encryption

This study supports the adoption of the iPhone encryption despite that the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) claims the encryption may prevent them from carrying out an effective investigation. In the contemporary IT system, the iPhone can serve several purposes. Apart from assisting a user to carry out an effective communication, however, a user can use the phone to store sensitive data such as credit card information, bank information and SSN (Social Security Number). If the phone is lost or stolen, all the sensitive data in the phone can be used for the criminal purpose. Moreover, some people even go to the extent of storing their banks passwords inside their phones. Thus, the Apple iPhone encryption system is an effective technology that assists the users to protect their sensitive data even if their phones are stolen. Typically, million of individuals have fallen in the victims of data theft because their phones are stolen.

Moreover, the encryption system protect the credit card information when purchasing the product and services online. In the United States, millions of people have fallen the victims of theft of credit card information during the online transactions. The iPhone 6 encryption serves as a powerful technology that assists online shoppers submitting their credit card information online without a fear of data being intercepted since the credit card information is encrypted thereby protecting the personal information being stolen.

Question c

I will prefer switching to an email service provider that charges $40 a year rather than using the Gmail that collects private information. Although, Google might have offered the Android operating system integrated with encryption, nevertheless, collecting private information of users using the email servers such as Gmail, Yahoo and other free emails has undermined the encryption technology integrated in the Android phones. It is essential to realize that free emails do not have effective that protection technology to protect the users’ data from external attacks. Thus, if hackers have successfully hacked the Google servers, they will be able to cast away with th sensitive information of users. The identification of this weakness in the free emails will make me to prefer the email service provider that does not collect my information because I believe that my private information will not be compromised since I do not store my private information in server of the email service provider.

Question d. Potential Benefits that make Apple lets users making a decision for their Privacy

Apple Inc. believes that privacy is very critical for people. When people purchase products and services online and their data fall into the wrong hands. A protection of private data is one of the benefits that makes Apple allowing the users to make a decision for their privacy. Typically, Apple designs the iPhone 6 to protect the user’ privacy. Apple allows the users to make decision of the type of information that they will submit into the server because Apple believes a private information is a lifeblood of an individual, and if the private information of an individual is erased, the person is no more protected. For example, the bank account of the individual will be stolen because his or her private information has been compromised. This is the major reason that makes Apple developing the iPhone 6 integrated with a powerful encryption system to enhance privacy of its customers. The major benefit is that users will be able to submit their information into the Apple servers without having a fear that their information will be stolen since the information will be encrypted with the AES technology. (Richardson, & Redelmeier, 2005).

Moreover, Apple protects the transactional data, private information and credit card information of users using a leading security platform. Typically, Apple allows its customers to use their iPhones to shop online using the Apple Pay, which is one of the ways to secure the privacy of customers. Typically, the Apple Pay is designed to protect the personal information of users because Apple Pay does not collect the users’ personal transaction information, rather, the payment transaction is between the users and the merchant. Moreover, Apple enhances the security of the Apple Pay through the passcode integrated in the phone devices. When a user adds credit card to Apple Pay, the information is encrypted before being transferred to the Apple servers. Thus, the users enjoy the benefits of shopping online without their credit card information being stolen. Moreover, the users enjoy the benefits of maximum protection of their data even if they happen to store all their personal information in the Apple’s servers.

Conclusion

The paper discusses the benefits of hosting a private email server, and one of the benefits identified is a faster email delivery. The security of the email messages is another benefit of having an internal email server. Apart from these benefits, the email servers provide an effective internal email system that delivers message at a faster rate. The study also discusses about the Apple iPhone 6 encryption’s technology that integrates the AES system to protect the data of a user. The paper supports the new security system despite its criticism by the FBI. One of the benefits of the new technology is that it encrypts the data of the users against unauthorized access. Even if the phone is stolen, it will not be possible to steal the data stored inside the phone because the data are encrypted.

Reference

Butterfield, J., Tracy, M. and Jansen, W. (2007). Guidelines on Electronic Mail Security, Recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD.

Cristian, T., & M. Melanie, V. (2013). Usable the Secure e-Mail Communications: Evaluation and Criteria of Existing Approaches. Information Management & Computer Security. 21 (1):41-52.

Richardson, M. and Redelmeier, D. (2005). Opportunistic Encryption Using the Internet Key Exchange (IKE). RFC 4322.

Sanger, D.E. & Chen, B.S. (2014). Signaling Post-Snowden Era, New iPhone Locks Out N.S.A. New York Times. September 26, 2014.

Sheldon, R. (2015). How iOS Encryption and Data Protection Work. Tech Target.