Email policy

The email header contains technical information about an email's transmission route. Usually, email headers are not displayed in most email programs and webmail clients.

In contrast, the body of an email (the actual text) is displayed by default. This may consist simply of text or of several elements, such as text and attachments.

Abbreviation for Internet Protocol address. An IP address consists of a numeric code containing four figures from 0 to 255 (e. g. 217.72.195.42). Newer IP addresses (IPv6) are significantly longer and consist of digits and the letters a-f, which are separated from each other by a colon (e.g. 2001:8a2e:0370:0db8:85a3:7344:08d3:1319). This is the numeric address of a specific computer on the Internet. The IP address can be used to unambiguously identify a computer on the network.

In order to enable end users to avoid having to deal with complex numeric sequences, there is something called the Domain Name System, which converts IP addresses into alphanumeric identifiers. This can be used, for example, to convert the IP address 193.134.72.151 into the Baloise Group.

As an infinite number of IP addresses is not available, private ports are usually allocated dynamic IP addresses. If the connection to a dynamic IP address is interrupted, the next available number is assigned when the connection is re-established.

In contrast, static IP addresses are mainly used for computers that provide services on the Internet and which should always be accessible at the same IP address (e.g. Baloise).

Mailer daemons are the error messages that are sent from an email server to the original sender if an email is undeliverable. Other terms used for this are Bounce or Bounce Message and Delivery Status Notification (DSN).

Phishing emails attempt to obtain personal data from users. In general, users are asked to disclose access details for email accounts, information about credit cards or access data and transaction numbers for bank accounts. The phisher creates fake emails that give the impression of being from a trustworthy company.

A proxy server provides an interface to a computer network. Such a proxy server ensures that all the computers connected in a network can communicate with the outside world. Mobile operators also frequently use proxy servers to control Internet communications from mobile devices.

IP addresses are gathered in an RBL list. Such lists can be used before establishing a connection in order to decide whether certain senders may submit emails to the recipient system or with which level of spam probability such emails are to be marked. There are several types of such lists. Some list IP addresses from which the owner of the list does not want emails to be sent or from which the owner does not want to receive emails. Other lists contain IP addresses that are known to be responsible for the transmission of email spam.

Ein Relay ist ein Mailserver, der von anderen Mailserver E-Mail nach definierten Kriterien annimmt und weiterleitet. Ein unsicher konfigurierter SMTP-Relay-Server ist ein sogenanntes Offenes Mail-Relay und leitet auch E-Mails weiter, für die er nicht zuständig ist.

Scams refer to a special kind of email spam. Recipients are tricked into believing they could win a large sum of money or be part of a very good financial deal. This usually involves the email recipient having to make an up-front payment and then failing to obtain the promised outcome.

Spam is the term used for unsolicited email advertising. In technical terms, spam is usually separated into Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE), which is spam with a commercial background, and Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE), which cover other mass emails.