Chicago, IL, Mar. 16 (UPI) -- The second you send an e-mail from your PC, your personal privacy probably has been compromised. E-mail messages hop from your computer over a number of networks to their final destination, but like a postcard from a vacationer in Mexico, the content can be perused by anyone, at anytime, before it is delivered, experts told UPI's The Web.

"E-mail is completely open," said Jeff Multz, vice president of sales at SecureWorks Inc., a computer security services firm in Atlanta. "People think it is secure when it is sent over a network, but that is misnomer No. 1. We don't send out bills or payments for bills through the regular mail without an envelope, but on the Internet we send out open communications all the time." By Gene Koprowski