| MAIN ARTICLE
Hi,
Its been an interesting two
weeks since the last newsletter with one item in particular been brought
to my attention on more than one occasion. E-mail...
I often receive queries about
spam, e-mail viruses and large attachments. These are possibly one of
modern life's most challenging annoyances affecting millions of Internet
users all over the world. In order to provide some info on these I have
broken the newsletter down into three parts, namely Spam, E-mail viruses
and Large emails.
1.
Spam
Spam is defined by Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org) as
follows:
E-mail spam, also known as
bulk e-mail or junk e-mail is a subset of spam that involves
sending nearly identical messages to numerous recipients by e-mail. A
common synonym for spam is unsolicited bulk e-mail (UBE). Some definitions
of spam specifically include the aspects of e-mail that is unsolicited and
sent in bulk. UCE refers specifically to Unsolicited Commercial
E-mail.
The most commonly asked question
regarding spam is "Why do I receive spam", to which there are a number of
possibilities, some of which I have listed below.
-
You subscribe to e-mail
newsletters - This provides spammers with a central point to obtain
hundreds, thousands and sometimes millions of e-mail addresses. If you
are going to be subscribing to a newsletter ask your ISP to create a
e-mail alias/address specifically for this. Then, should you receive
large volumes of spam you could ask them to change this without it
affecting your primary alias/address.
-
You list your e-mail address on
a web site - Perhaps rather than a explanation I can provide an
example. I recently changed the e-mail address used on the www.readmail.co.za site and
newsletters from webmaster@readmail.co.za to
wayne@readmail.co.za.
Ever since I have started receiving spam to the new address. A
quick browse on Google (http://www.google.com) shows exactly
how easy it is for spammers to obtain the e-mail address wayne@readmail.co.za, http://www.google.co.za/search?en&q=wayne@readmail.co.za&meta.
Take a minute and see if a Google search on your e-mail address returns
any results.
-
Viruses - You do not need to be
infected with a virus for it to spread your e-mail address, any pc with
your e-mail address on it which becomes infected with a virus can spread
your e-mail address and in all likelihood result in it ending up with a
spammer.
-
Spammers sell e-mail addresses
- Once a spammer has your e-mail address and confirms its valid
he/she can put this on a CD with millions of other e-mail
addresses and sell it to future spammers, often for approx.
$20.
2. E-mail
viruses
-
Ensure that you have a anvirus
package which scans your incoming e-mail. Do not rely solely on your ISP
for this. If possible do not use the same antivirus package as they
are. Antivirus companies release new virus signatures at different
times, should your ISP's antivirus system not yet have the signatures,
yours may just have it and protect you from virus
infection.
-
Do not open attachments from
senders you do not know or are not expecting a e-mail from.
3. Large
emails
E-mail its an amazing tool when
used in the way it was intended. If you are experiencing any e-mail
difficulty whether it be spam, viruses or large emails and would like
information on how to resolve this please do not hesitate to contact
me.
Kind Regards
Wayne - wayne@readmail.co.za |
IN THIS ISSUE
• Main Article
• Monthly Tip
• Quick
Links
MONTHLY
TIP
Update your antivirus, antispyware and Windows updates regularly.
At least once a week is recommended to ensure your protection is up to
date.
If you do not
have an antivirus or antispyware solution take a minute to browse
through the links below for a free antivirus and antispyware
solution!
QUICK LINKS
• AVG Antivirus and Antispyware
• Mozilla Firefox
• Windows updates |
