eposta

eposta, or electronic mail, is a method of sending and receiving digital messages over a computer network, most often the Internet. In Turkish usage, e-posta is the common spelling, while the English form email is also widely understood.

A user composes a message in an email client and sends it to an outgoing mail server via the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). The sending server uses DNS MX records to locate the recipient's mail server, which stores the message until the recipient retrieves it via POP3 or IMAP.

Core standards include SMTP for sending, and POP3 or IMAP for retrieval. The Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) standard enables text, images, and attachments to be exchanged. Encryption in transit is commonly provided with TLS; authentication and anti-spam mechanisms include SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

Security and privacy concerns include spam, phishing, malware, and data breaches. Users and providers mitigate these risks with encryption (TLS in transit and, where possible, end-to-end like S/MIME or PGP), strong authentication, and user education about suspicious messages.

An e-posta address follows the local-part@domain format, with the at-sign separating the user name from the domain. E-posta is widely used in personal, professional, and organizational contexts, supported by many providers and accessible through traditional email clients as well as webmail and mobile apps.