format an edit pagewhich ultimately sends message to the smtp serverno pop information is needed or passed but at this point in the interactionthe pop password has racked up more than few frequent flyer miles in factit may have crossed phone linessatellite linksand continents on its journey from machine to machine let' trace through the voyage input (client)the password starts life by being typed into the login page on the client (or being embedded in an explicit url)unencrypted if typed into the input form in web browsereach character is displayed as star (* fetch index (client to cgi server to pop server)it is next passed from the client to the cgi script on the serverwhich sends it on to your pop server in order to load mail index the client sends only the passwordunencrypted list page urls (cgi server to client)to direct the next script' behaviorthe password is embedded in the mail selection list web page itself as hyperlink url query parametersencrypted (or otherwise obfuscatedand url encoded fetch message (client to cgi server to pop server)when an email is selected from the listthe password is sent to the next script named within the link' urlthe cgi script decodes it and passes it on to the pop server to fetch the selected message the pymailcgi server