Why can it be so easy to hack into someones email address? How do they do it and how can I stop it?

Hacking I have heard it happen to others, and you think that your safe because you have a password, virus protection etc, I am hearing this is not the case and after having being burnt myself that the ordinary person with little computer knowledge can be shown a basic way of accessing someone elses computer or e-mail, for the purpose of spying and whats worse is most of these people turn out to be family members, work collegues, friends etc people that know you, that you trusted all for a bit of gossip, to find out what you said to so and so about them, or what the other person really thinks or who they are speaking with and what about. Then they openly use the information against you or for their own gain and sometimes even and brag about being able to access the e-mail, so I have 3 questions;

Why is it so easy, how can it be done?

Is there anyone you can call about invasion of privacy?

Whats the best way to prevent it from happening?

Why can it be so easy to hack into someones email address? How do they do it and how can I stop it?nortan

1. It is extremaly easy to send a fake email from someone, as most mail servers send out emails without checking if user is the same as the one signing email. It is much harder to read other mailbox, and requires some computer knowledge.

2. Yes, for starters it your ISP or your mail provider. In some cases even police.

3. Most of hacking in in mail accounts is due to simple errors like using very easy passwords, or leaving email account open. Always log out from your mail account if you are using webmail, and use secure connection to read mails.