IMAP
IMAP is an abbreviation for the “Internet Message Access Protocol”. It is a protocol that is the successor of the POP protocol. The main difference is that with POP the emails are downloaded from the server and then deleted, while with IMAP they remain completely on the server. The server stores not only the incoming and outgoing emails, but also entire folder structures as well as desired settings of the mail server. When an email is to be accessed, it is retrieved directly online instead of storing a copy on the computer. Via IMAP, e-mails can therefore be accessed from anywhere. The protocol was already designed in the 1980s, but only gained importance later.
Security aspects of using IMAP
In order to retrieve emails from the mail server via IMAP, the user must enter his user name and password and thus authenticate himself as authorized. However, this creates a security hole because the IMAP protocol transmits the password unencrypted. For security reasons, most mail servers therefore expect an encrypted session to be established for the transmission of the password. The SSL and TLS standards can be used for encryption.
Software support for IMAP
If you want to use IMAP, you first have to find out whether the email program you are using supports the protocol. Most common software products are at least basically IMAP-capable, even if not many functions can be implemented. However, this is sufficient for simple mail traffic. These mail programs with simple support for the protocol include, for example, MS Outlook in older versions, Mozilla Thunderbird, Opera and Apple Mail. IMAP offers more advanced functions such as the assignment of rights for other users. These can be used with MS Outlook from version 2007, Windows Mail, Evolution and Mulberry, among others.
Advantages of IMAP
IMAP has the advantage that the messages remain on the server and are therefore protected against data loss in the event of a defect on the computer. The access can be used either by an email program or by a login in the browser. Thus, the mailbox is automatically made available for flexible use from any computer. The mailbox is always up to date when using IMAP.
Disadvantages of IMAP
A disadvantage of the IMAP protocol is that there must always be an active connection to the mail server in order to read emails. It is not possible to work on the e-mails offline. This makes the IMAP protocol unattractive especially when the Internet connection is poor and changeable, but also for people who often work from the road and cannot always access the Internet.
