Security risks of Hillary Clinton using a home server for email

Originally published on 10 March, 2015 Sign up for a free trial of News Direct’s animated news graphics at ----------------------------------------­----------------------------------------­---------------- The Associated Press reports that New York Senator Hillary Clinton used an email server located in the Clinton’s Chappaqua, New York home. Hillary Clinton did not use a .gov email address and instead used which was hosted on her personal email server. Government officials’ email accounts are considered federal records. The .gov email servers are mirrored in other locations as backup and are highly protected against hacking attempts. Clinton’s email server was private and more vulnerable to fire or flood damage or hacker attacks. If someone wanted to send the senator an email, it would first go to a mail server. The mail server then queries a domain registrar— was registered with Network Solutions—who would then provide the domain location. The message then travels through the internet to arrive at the designated server location—Clinton’s home. The greatest threat to an email account being compromised may be an attack on the domain registrar. If a savvy hacker forced the domain registrar to return a false domain location they could intercept messages sent to the recipient’s domain. This would also allow the hacker to send messages that appear to come from the hacked domain. In November of last year, President Obama updated the 1950 Presidential and Federal Records Act to include electronic communication as part of federal records. ----------------------------------------­----------------------------------------­---------------- Next Media Animation’s News Direct service provides daily, high-quality, informative 3D animated news graphics that fill in for missing footage and help viewers understand breaking news stories or in-depth features on science, technology, and health. To subscribe to News Direct or for more info, please visit: