What are the potential security risks of sending emails through a GMX account using the mail() function in PHP?

The potential security risks of sending emails through a GMX account using the mail() function in PHP include exposing sensitive information such as login credentials, email content, and recipient email addresses. To mitigate these risks, it is recommended to use SMTP authentication with secure transport methods like TLS to securely send emails through a GMX account.

<?php
$to = "recipient@example.com";
$subject = "Test Email";
$message = "This is a test email.";
$headers = "From: your_email@example.com\r\n";
$headers .= "Reply-To: your_email@example.com\r\n";

// Set SMTP settings for GMX
ini_set("SMTP","mail.gmx.com");
ini_set("smtp_port","587");
ini_set("sendmail_from","your_email@example.com");

// Send email using PHPMailer library
require 'PHPMailer/PHPMailerAutoload.php';
$mail = new PHPMailer;
$mail->isSMTP();
$mail->Host = 'mail.gmx.com';
$mail->SMTPAuth = true;
$mail->Username = 'your_email@example.com';
$mail->Password = 'your_password';
$mail->SMTPSecure = 'tls';
$mail->Port = 587;
$mail->setFrom('your_email@example.com', 'Your Name');
$mail->addAddress($to);
$mail->Subject = $subject;
$mail->Body = $message;

if(!$mail->send()) {
    echo 'Message could not be sent.';
    echo 'Mailer Error: ' . $mail->ErrorInfo;
} else {
    echo 'Message has been sent';
}
?>