Linux Network Security: POP

[William Leese <wleese@europe.nl.com>]

Having a cable modem I'm concerned with the fact that when I use email my 
password is sent in clear text over the network. I've heard that there were 
other services that could be used instead of POP but i'm not sure if that can 
be used here if my provider doesnt support it.

For my email I use my providers POP server. For sending email I also use 
their server. Though in the past I used sendmail, can someone tell me the 
advantages of using one over the other?

Also, if there any way I can encrypt the passwords being sent without the 
provider taking any needed steps to enable me to do so?


William