Microsoft is no longer requiring email users to be logged into a Microsoft account to view an encrypted email sent from a Microsoft account. The more open approach makes it easer for non-Microsoft customers to access encrypted messages without having to create a Microsoft account. Instead, these users can access the email through a one-time passcode emailed from Microsoft that is good for 15 minutes.

Harvard University students and staffers received a threatening email last Friday from a mystery email address, telling recipients that the sender was going to visit the campus and shoot people. A second email went out on Saturday from the same address apologizing for the threat, blaming it on the sender's little brother who wasn't actually serious.

JP Morgan has revealed that its computer system has been compromised and the accounts of more than half of its U.S. customers have had data exposed. The company warned that customer names, phone numbers and email addresses were at risk, but bank account numbers and social security numbers were not exposed. Chase has warned consumers to be on the look out for spam emails that claim to come from the bank.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, remembered his former boss Steve Jobs in an email that he sent out to company employees on the anniversary of Jobs' death on Sunday. In the email, Cook pointed out Jobs contributions to the creative world. "Steve's vision extended far beyond the years he was alive, and the values on which he built Apple will always be with us," he wrote. "Many of the ideas and projects we're working on today got started after he died, but his influence on them - and on all of us - is unmistakable."

Chris Abruzzo, Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection Secretary, has resigned after a pornographic email scandal has hit Governor Tom Corbett's office. According to allegations, Abruzzo was one of eight officials in Corbett's office who was caught using his government email address to exchange pornographic images and videos.

Only 42 percent of consumers admit to deleting most marketing emails without reading them in 2014, according to Forrester Research, which is down from 44 percent in 2012 and 59 percent in 2010. The conclusion: consumers are more willing to read marketing emails in 2014. Consumers are also more used to these marketing messages. In 2010, 49 percent of US online consumers reported that they receive too many email offers and promotions. In 2014, only 39 percent of consumers reported that they receive too many emails.

B-to-b social data firm Nimble has introduced Smart Contacts Chrome App, a new app that aggregates a professional's contacts into one app. The tool pulls data from a user's contact details, email data and social interactions into one Chrome extension. The idea is to give sales people the tools to nurture business relationships within one portal.

Sortd, a new Chrome extension app, allows Gmail users to turn their email inboxes into a set of organized lists. The tool lets users drag and drop emails into task lists and organize messages in categories such as follow up with, delete and send receipt.

San Diego-based tech startup Symphony Communication Services, which has $66 million in funding, has introduced a new app which claims to bring to email what SnapChat brought to text for bankers. The company is beta testing an app called Symphony which allows financial services professionals who often discuss trades and deals on the Bloomberg terminal, to email each other about trades through a secure platform.

Japanese tech firm UBIC has devised a new artificial intelligence tool that scans a company's email system to look for signs that an email user will potentially leak data. The Virtual Data Scientist tool reads through messages and identifies senders whose language suggests that they are critical of their employer or are having money troubles. UBIC claims that these attributes suggest that an employee is more likely to leak sensitive company data.