You’ve got mail!!!
For far too many people this little canned voice is nothing but
a harbinger of bad things to come. If your system has been
targeted by one of the hundreds of email scammers proliferating
the Internet, your headaches have just begun.
You've Got Mail.. Or Spam
Author: Jake Foster
You’ve got mail!!!
For far too many people this little canned voice is nothing but
a harbinger of bad things to come. If your system has been
targeted by one of the hundreds of email scammers proliferating
the Internet, your headaches have just begun.
Should a hacker invade your inbox with a virulent email, you
will have to take immediate and aggressive action. Often this
results in ultimate frustration, not to mention time gobbling
effort.
The wisest thing one can do to protect their email from
malicious attack is to install email filters that work
tirelessly in the background to protect your system and its
content.
In addition to installing email filters, you can give yourself
a modicum of security by adhering to the following:
Spammers like to send innocent looking emails with “Remove” in
the subject line. Unless you are confident of whom the email is
from, you should NEVER reply to its sender by clicking on the
“remove” link. Even though the body of this mail may contain
detailed instructions outlining the procedure to remove your
address from their mailing list, don’t be fooled. Spammers like
to include these links so users will think the offer is
legitimate. Most of the time, they are nothing more than a
fishing expedition to see if your email is working and
legitimate. once they get this information, look out – life as
you know it will not be the same. Word to the wise: Delete,
delete, delete!!!
Turn the tables on spammer spiders by altering your email
address on line. Spiders harvest email addresses by crawling
the net, surreptitiously capturing email address from guest
books, registration services and white page directories.
Instead of posting your address as: “person@...”,
type in: “person at http://thisplace.com”. Spiders will skim
their sneaky little legs right on past and you will never feel
their sting.
You should guard your email as diligently as you do your
personal address and home phone number. Use a primary email
address for contact with friends, family and business
connections, and set up a secondary email address for all
online forms. Free email accounts are available on the web from
providers such as yahoo and hotmail – these companies spend
astounding amounts to protect their servers from malicious
content, so most spamming attacks are blocked at the outset.
Installing and maintaining email filters can effectively snatch
the welcome mat out from under the feet of spammers lurking in
the doorway of your operating system. You can program them to
automatically delete any unauthorized email before it can be
opened, but most users like to retain the option of either
white listing or black listing senders. Email filters allow all
white listed (wanted) email to reach your inbox, while
blacklisted addresses (those you have not authorized) will be
spiraled into the refuse bin.
This can sometimes lead to a catch-22 situation. Your email
filtering program must be set up so it does not inadvertently
block legitimate email. In these days of world wide commerce,
even one mistakenly blocked email can have a detrimental impact
on our business. So, when installing an email filtering
program, make sure it is equipped with the technology that can
combine variables including specific criteria, real time
research and intelligence data in order to ensure you are not
throwing the baby out with the bath water.
About The Author: Jake Foster writes for
http://www.sxsecurity.com . Visit http://www.sxsecurity.com for
more security related articles and downloads.
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