Security is paramount to keeping your email safe.  A good rule of thumb is to always assume anything you send or receive via email is not secure.  Ask yourself would this e-mail cause you or the company concerns if it were posted on the company bulletin board? 

Spam and unwanted emails are also a security concern.  See the tips below to make sure you are doing what you can to keep your email safe.  If the volume of spam becomes unmanageable, contact your email administrators to help reduce the amount of junk mail and spam that reaches your inbox.  Jelecos uses Google’s Postini Message Filtering service, your email admins likely use a similar application.  Frequently quick changes in the spam filtering can solve a spam overflow..  

Security

• Any message – even if it is strongly encrypted – may be read by others.
• Anything you receive may not have originated from where it says it does as mail headers are easily forged.
• Do not open a message that seems suspect.
• Never disclose anything confidential, such as your password or a credit card number, in an email message.
• If you suspect your email has been compromised in any way, contact your email administrator immediately.

 Junk Mail or Spam

• Spam is defined as unsolicited commercial email and it virtually never has anything to do with your business function.
• Never reply to junk mail.
• Never give out your email address to an un-trusted source. Be cautious when using your corporate address for signing up online. Spammers harvest these lists for valid addresses, and pretty soon your inbox will be full.

 This blog is part of the Email Best Practices Series.  Check out the other blog posts in the series: 

• Sending
• Maintenance

 

Malware is a combination of the words malicious and software and refers to a type of cybercrime.  This is a type of software whose sole purpose is to cause harm to a computer system.  Types of malware include viruses, worms and bots.  If your computer is affected by malware, it may have been infiltrated by a bot (short for robot) and used without the your knowledge:  your computer is now a zombie.  Frequently, the botmaster will use the bot to connect your zombie to other zombies, which creates a botnet.

These are all very clever and interesting terms, but in reality, they pose a real problem.  Malware has become one of the most pressing security problems on the Internet. Cyber criminals use these tools to send spam mails, to launch denial-of-service attacks, and in the worst cases, to steal personal data such as mail account or bank credentials.

There are ways to protect your computer from becoming a zombie.  If you use a Microsoft operating system, be sure and install the updates you receive.  They typically contain security patches that combat the latest "hole" found by the masters.  You should also invest in anti-virus and firewall programs and keep them up-to-date.  

How complex are your passwords?  Malware can very easily crack simple passwords; so make sure you avoid dictionary words (not just English), make sure it's at least 8 characters long, and toss in a few numbers and capital letters.

Finally, exercise discretion when browsing the Internet.  Be choosy about the sites you browse and if you don't trust a link in an email, don't click on it.