Ask Slashdot: Secure, Yet Accessible E-mail Archive Storage?

New submitter mlts writes: As of now, I just leave E-mail in a 'received-2015' subfolder on my provider's server, adding a new folder yearly. With the rise of E-mail account intrusions (where even though I'm likely not a primary target, but it is a concern), what is a secure, but yet accessible way to archive E-mail? I'm far less worried about the FBI/NSA/Illuminati, as I am about having stuff divulged to all and sundry if a mass breach happens. A few alternative I've considered: 1) Running my own physical IMAP server. The server would run on a hypervisor (likely ESXi), have Dovecot limited to the VPN I use, and use other sane techniques to limit access. 2) Archive the E-mail files through a cloud provider, with a client encryption utility (EncFS, BoxCryptor, etc.) In this case, E-mail would be stored in a different file a week. 3) Move it to local storage on a virtual machine, and if access is needed, use LogMeIn or another remote access item to fire up Thunderbird to access it. What would be a recommended way to secure E-mail that sits around, for the long haul, but still have it accessible? Even if you're not specifically worried about it, keeping older email around on a provider's server opens you up to warrantless access by U.S. law enforcement officials.

Comments

pop3 to local machine, then backup

[i.r.id10t]

Pull it down to your local machine either via pop3 or just moving messages from your imap inbox to a local folder.

Then whenever you like, archive that off somewhere. You could even convert maildir format to mbox and then run something like mhonarc on it to make web pages of 'em all wtih indexes and such, and just archive off the HTML onto a CD/DVD/whatever.

All that said, why are you keeping it all? I've kept all of my work related email for 18 years now (same employer) on my local machine. I've gone thru a few things more than a year old just for giggles, and one time I needed a license number that was locked up in a filing cabinet but didn't have my keys that day... But mostly an email that is 2 months old or older just isn't needed (by me, for my work, your needs probably vary).

Run your own IMAP server

[PvtVoid]

Get an email account with any domain provider, and set it up to forward to your private server. Read mail by connecting to an account on the private IMAP server. No need to run your own SMTP server; outgoing mail can be handled by your domain provider.

Problem solved.