Email

Even before the pandemic struck in 2020, technology was blurring the boundary between home and work. Pressure to be contactable 24/7 led to calls for "right to disconnect" laws protecting employees – calls that have been increasingly heeded in the COVID era.

Microsoft has detected a network of cyberattacks originating from a North Korean hacking group dubbed Thallium. It is the fourth nation-state group Microsoft has identified deploying malicious cyberactivity, following Russia, China and Iran.

​There are compelling reasons to use open source software. There's the obvious benefit that it's free to use. It's arguably more secure. And it's built solely for the benefit of users. This in mind, here are 10 of the best open source alternatives to the software we use on our computers every day.

Lovers of Google's Inbox will be disappointed to learn that the company is pulling the pin and shutting it down in six months' time. Some of Inbox's features have already made their way into the regular Gmail service, while others, it seems, will be gone forever.

In today’s ultra-connected world, with many people often getting work emails sent to their smartphones, a growing number of countries and companies are endorsing “right to disconnect” laws, recreating a much-needed boundary between work and home.

Since it launched in April 2004, Gmail has been one of the standard bearers for web-based email, and Google just announced a major refresh for it. As well as a visual overhaul, Gmail is getting confidential emails, the option to snooze messages, and smart replies, among other new features.

Gmail users are set to benefit from Google's machine learning research with Smart Reply. The system will use a deep neural network to analyze incoming emails and propose three likely replies, with the end result enabling mobile users to respond quickly to emails.

The privacy of the online data has been a hot topic over the last year. In order to protect against unwanted snooping, a group of scientists has created a new secure email service. ProtonMail provides end-to-end encryption, meaning that even the company itself can't see your messages.