PC Security: Email Security and Spam
Email has really become an important part of our world,
and our lives, over the past ten years. It is also a very common source of
infection when it comes to computer viruses. These viruses usually arrive
via email, inside attachments. Even though we have been repeatedly warned
about not opening attachments from people that we don't know, many people
still do.
While you may think that this does not affect you because you do not open
such attachments, you would be wrong if you someone you know opens those
attachments and has your email address inside their computer address book.
If you are on a network, and such an infected attachment gets opened on another
computer in that network, your computer will most likely be affected as
well.
One way that Internet Service Providers (ISP) and Email Service Providers
(ESP) are cutting down on the email virus problem is by implementing software
to detect and move spam messages. Sometimes, however, the spam will get through
the spam filter, and it is up to the user to use the 'this is spam' feature
that comes with their email service.
It is important to understand exactly what spam is before you hit that 'this
is spam' button, however. Spam is unsolicited e-mail. It is not email that
you've requested to receive. For example, if you filled out a form to subscribe
to an opt-in email list, the mail that you receive from that list is not
spam, and reporting it as spam is not the way to unsubscribe.
You must remember that spam filtering isn't 100% accurate, and by submitting
false spam reports, you will only be delaying the accuracy rate of the spam
blocker, which means that you will continue to receive unsolicited email.
However, in order to stop spam, when you receive spam, it is important to
use the 'this is spam' button.
Because the antispam filter is not 100% accurate, it is also important to
scan through the subject lines of the emails in your spam or junk folder
on a regular basis. Authentication may play a major role in helping you to
distinguish spam messages from non-spam messages. Authentication basically
tells you who the sender of the email is, and it is used as a spam fingerprint
check by the filters as well.
If you use a local email client, such as Microsoft Outlook, you should already
have a free spam blocker installed with that software. If you use a different
brand email client, check to be sure that there is indeed a spam blocker
included, and if there isn't, be sure to look for one. Your email server
may provide these free of charge as well.
 PC Security: Index
PC Security:
Internet Browsers
PC Security:
Spam
PC Security:
Stopping Spam Part 1
PC Security:
Stopping Spam Part 2
PC Security: Spam
Scams
PC Security:
Email Security and Spam
PC Security:
Email
PC Security:
Computer Viruses
PC Security:
Protecting Computers From Viruses
PC Security:
Worm Viruses
PC Security:
Trojan Horse Viruses
PC Security:
Rootkits
PC Security:
Removing a Virus
PC Security:
Virus Hoaxes
PC Security:
Server Viruses
PC Security:
Home Network
PC Security:
Cell Phone Viruses
PC Security:
Spyware
PC Security:
Firewalls Part 1
PC Security:
Firewalls Part 2
PC
Security: Parental Control Software
PC Security:
Malware - Spyware and Adware
PC Security:
Data Backups
PC Security:
Pop Up Windows
PC
Security: Safe Public Computer Use
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