Securing Gmail

Turn on the "https" option in gmail for an encrypted access to your email. By default, this option is turned off.

If you sign in to Gmail via a non-secure Internet connection, like a public wireless or non-encrypted network, your Google account may be more vulnerable to hijacking. Non-secure networks make it easier for someone to impersonate you and gain full access to your Google account, including any sensitive data it may contain like bank statements or online log-in credentials. We recommend selecting the 'Always use https' option in Gmail any time your network may be non-secure. HTTPS, or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, is a secure protocol that provides authenticated and encrypted communication.

To activate this feature:

1. Login in Gmail
2. Click "Settings" on top right
3. Scroll down to "Browser connection:" and select "Always use https"
4. Click on "Save Changes"

However, this might make your gmail slower since it has to encrypt all sent and received data!

For more info see: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&ctx=mail&answer=74765

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