Reminder About Email Security - Updating is important!

A gentle reminder that you should ensure your devices, operating systems, and email applications are up to date. The world of computer security is constantly progressing and evolving. When we allow our systems to age, they may become vulnerable to newly discovered attacks from malicious parties. While this could be true of newer devices as well, the risk is lower, and the support is generally higher and more timely. The risks could include theft of user data, device functionality, improper access to tangential services, or eavesdropping on a weakly encrypted (SSL/TLS) session. Generally speaking, if your device is several years old, your risk begins to increase. If you believe your device may be at risk, talk to a trusted source, or perhaps inquire at a store that sells similar devices. 
 
Technical Details: 
There are various components to an operating system, the software which runs your computer or phone. On top of that are the apps we install, such as browsers, email clients, games, or productivity apps. Each of these is likely to communicate with or allow communication, with other systems. They could be exploited to introduce any variety of viruses/malware into your system. Furthermore, many systems rely on TLS to transmit data securely. TLS (Transport Layer Security) is the successor to SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). There have been various versions of SSL and TLS, each improving on the last. As of this writing, the known secure versions are TLS1.2 (RFC5246) and TLS1.3 (RFC8446). Every version of SSL and TLS 1.0/1.1 have been deemed insecure. International standards organizations have recommended (RFC8896) that applications and providers deprecate these older versions of SSL/TLS. Doing so will begin to move the needle toward stronger and more secure encryption methods, and help protect users.