If you have a wireless laptop, listen up! It's time to make sure your email is secure.

When you sit at your local coffee shop to surf the internet and get your email, you are most likely using a connection that is not encrypted. This means the data flying through the air from your laptop to the internet is not secure. It can be intercepted.

Most wireless hotspots don't bother turning encryption on because it would make them crazy having to hand out the password to everyone and then deal with all of the people that did not know how to use it to connect. To keep it easy for everyone, encryption stays off.

What this means is that when you send and receive your email, your username and password go flying through the air for any computer geek to grab. The tools you need to do it are so simple to use these days that even some non-geeks are getting in on the action.

It's a real risk to your security and the security of your real estate data that most people aren't aware of.

Fortunately, most email providers offer the option to encrypt your email transmissions (both sending and receiving) with the same level of security that you find when you log into your bank accounts on the internet. The tricky part is that you actually have to turn the option on for it to protect your email. And what's worse, some of the big name ISPs (like SBC) don't offer this option for subscribers.

If you have your own real estate website and corresponding email service, check with your web host as they probably DO offer the extra security.

This "extra security" is called SSL. It doesn't matter what it stands for, just know that it means that your email will be encrypted and therefore protected from prying eyes when you use the internet at wireless hotspots.

The quickest way to see if you "qualify" is to follow these simple steps:

1. Contact your ISP or web host and ask them if they support sending and receiving email with SSL encryption.

2. If they do, ask them for the correct settings to put into your email program.

As wireless hotspots become more and more widespread and the software that allows people to do wireless "snooping" becomes easier and easier to use, it is important that you take precautions to protect your data.

Check into it now, because somebody's watching...