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 Category :: Spam |
Author :: Niall Roche  |
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| Article Title :: The Trouble With Spam Is.... |
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Each day we all face the same challenge. Spam. It doesn't matter
if you're a home computer user or the head of IT for a
multinational limiting or totally preventing the distribution of
junk email to your computer(s) is now a daily chore.
The sheer frustration that spam causes combined with the number
of lost man hours adds up to junk email being a very real
problem for all involved. You have to filter through all the
junk to find your own personal or work email. This on its own is
annoying enough. When you consider the security risks from
spyware, trojans, diallers and attempted identity theft spam
becomes much more than just an annoyance - it becomes a
minefield for any computer user.
So what can you do to block spam? The first step each user
should take is to simply limit the number of people who know
your personal email address. If you have a work email address
then just use it for work. For home users only distribute your
email address to people you know and trust. This simple move can
cut your spam problems by 50%.
But what about all those online forms I need to fill in? No
problem. Use a free email service like Hotmail or Gmail for this
purpose. Treat it as a throwaway account that you can use as a
buffer between your true personal email address and the rest of
the world. Let it fill up with junk email and then just login
once a week and delete everything you see.
Your password. It's amazing how many people set the password for
their email account to abc123 or something similar. These
passwords are incredibly easy for spammers to guess and would
give them easy access to your mail account. The password for
your email account should follow corporate standards of being 6
- 8 characters long and be alphanumeric (a mixture of numbers
and letters). Make it longer if you can. Using a weak password
is just asking for trouble.
If you're already receiving a ton of spam then you'll need to
invest in a spam blocker. There are free spam blockers you can
download and also also their paid equivalents. A great spam
blocker can cost you as little as $30 and you'll see an
immediate reduction in the amount of spam you're receiving.
Over and above installing software on your computer (especially
for Mac users as your choices are limited) you could sign up for
one of the web based challenge response spam blockers like
Mailblocks or SpamArrest. Both of these services are ideal for
somebody who's on the move a lot. Also because they're web based
there's no software to install so they're perfect for Mac or
PocketPC/Palm users.
Taking a pro-active anti spam stance is the next step. If you
get junk email from people then check the mail headers and
report any offensive email to the hosting company or ISP
involved. Never, ever reply to spam directly. This simply
confirms to the spammer that your email address is active. Also
never click on any hyperlinks in any junk email - this again
confirms your existence and can lead to a virus being downloaded
directly onto your PC. Filter the spam, report the abusers,
delete the remaining junk email.
Spam can be stopped. Not by some corporate giant or genius
programmer. It can be stopped by each of you individually.
Spammers rely on the widespread availability of email addresses
and for people to reply to these emails or click on the links
within the emails. The sooner people stop reacting emotionally
to spam and simply filter, report and delete the offensive mail
itself the sooner the lucrative market of bulk email will dry up
for the spammers.
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