I had someone who did SECRET-grade e-mails setup in the military write the following to me:
So, if for example Clinton only dealt with SECRET materials and they were sent or received in her email, all of the equipment (routers, switches, etc.) would have to be rated for that SIPRNet connection. Also, the space in which the equipment and servers and client computers resided in would also have to meet the specifications for SECRET material. This would include various forms of physical access to the space in the form of secure cards, biometrics, etc. No space rated for SECRET opens with a key from the local hardware store. . . .
The biggest issue I see here would be is if the server was connected to the public Internet and it resided in a non-DoD-approved space.
Not sure there are biometrics installed in the Clinton home in Chappaqua. ..bruce..
Precisely. You or I (I am assuming that you are not at the SoS level; I am not) could never do this for a job that involved secret discussions, as we could never get SIPRNet at our house, the servers secured, etc. Now, I am sure either the SoS or a former President can get SIPRNET at their house - they may need to take a call at 3:00 AM, after all, and that call may be secret in nature. (The current POTUS may well want to call a former POTUS in a crisis to ask about something mission critical, send him pictures etc. as part of the call, and I am sure they would not want to have to use an unsecured network to do this.) So, to me, the real question is, was this done properly, by properly vetted personnel with security clearances, training, etc.? It might have been (she certainly had access to these resources, and so did Bill), but if it wasn't, she IMO isn't fit to be President (and some network security guys need to be fired).
In my humble opinion, this is the real "nut" here - the rest is just a false crisis (turning over records is fixed once the records are turned over*), but if Vladimir Putin (or Rupert Murdoch) was reading all of her emails, that is a real issue. (Note that she could fix this today by simply saying "I just took advantage of the security structure set up for my husband after he left the White House," if something like that were true, this goes away.)
* Her opponents can of course use this against her, but, really, it's not going to go anywhere without evidence of other malfeasance.