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ZDNET Highlights
- A burner email address can protect you from spam and phishing.
- Use a burner address to set up an account on an unfamiliar website.
- The burner address is temporary and disposable, so it is for short-term use.
You’ve come across a new website that you want to access, but you discover that you need to create an account to use it. This means exposing your primary email address to another site where it may be vulnerable. What is the alternative? You can always turn to a burner email address instead.
A burner email address is a temporary and disposable address that you create for one-time purposes or for limited use with a particular website or service. By setting up access with a burner address, you avoid revealing your primary address. This is a particularly useful option for unknown or unfamiliar sites where your address may be exposed to certain threats.
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More than 501 million unique email addresses were found in a breached database exposed on the dark web last year, according to new data from NordVPN’s Nordstellar threat management division. As a result of the data breaches, all those addresses became vulnerable to spam, phishing attacks, and account takeovers.
Using a disposable burner instead of your primary burner does not eliminate such hazards, but it does reduce your exposure to them. Such addresses act as damage control, Dominicus Virbikas, product director at NordVPN, said in a news release. In the event of a data breach, a burner address makes it more difficult for attackers to connect your different accounts, flood your inbox with spam and scam messages, or reuse your leaked credentials.
When and where will you use Burner Address?
“Burner email addresses are typically used when signing up for online services or platforms that you don’t fully trust, such as free trials, webinars, or gated content, or when you want to avoid mandatory registration,” Virbikas explained. “Disposable email addresses are quickly set up and often self-destruct after a short period of time or a few uses, helping to protect your real email address from unwanted marketing messages or phishing attempts.”
How do you choose and use a burner address?
First, you want to select a reliable provider for one-time use or short-term access. NordVPN recommends services like 10 minute mail, guerilla mail, emailondeckAnd tempmail. All four are free at the basic level, with the help of ads, which usually gets you a burner address. EmailOnDeck and TempMail offer paid plans that give you more addresses and other features. Visit the site for any of these services. Your temporary email address is generated automatically. After using it to access a particular website, check your inbox on the provider you’ve chosen to see your new emails.
Second, limit burner addresses to non-essential services. According to NordVPN, many disposable email services lack encryption and security controls. Never use them for sensitive accounts like banking or health care.
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Third, make sure you use addresses responsibly. Scammers will often use burner email addresses to commit fraud. Because of that, some websites block burner email domains to prevent their abuse.
Finally, there are burner email address options. Email Masking Services Lets you create an address to set up accounts with online services without having to provide your primary address. Any messages sent to a secret address may be forwarded to your main address or may be blocked entirely. Another option is to use an email alias. Here, you create an alias address that is linked to your primary address. If you start receiving spam or phishing emails, simply remove the alias address to isolate the link.
“Many disposable email service providers prioritize convenience over long-term security, which means these services should be used thoughtfully and with caution,” Virbikas said. “When used responsibly and for low-risk sign-ups, they can be an effective way to keep your primary email address out of data breaches.”
