Russian Debt Default
Spam Blocker - Put A Stop To Junk Email Right From The Start
Business websites face different issues during its functioning process and these issues are big as well as small. One common issue is spam mails. To block spam mails, there are many organizations that provide technical support services and also knowledge to deal with this issue. Knowledge of blocking spam mails definitely keeps them one step ahead of their competition.
As much as possible, you need to keep your electronic mail address from being exposed on the net. If you are using electronic mail for personal purposes, it would be best that you don't easily give out your address to any one or to any web site that you don't fully-trust. But for online marketers or web site owners where your mail addresses need to be exposed, you can create some alternative addresses. In order to get away from being invaded by junk email, you can use this alternative addresses to segregate your different online transactions. You may use one for signing up in other web subscriptions, another for your personal mails, and another one for your business transactions.
Why do they do it and why is it increasing?
The short and simple answer to why people send spam is money? Here is an example. Let's ay that out of 2,000 emails 1 person clicks on the link and the spammer makes $1. If they send out two million emails, they would make $1000 a day. Pretty good pay for about an hour of work! It is strictly a numbers game in its purest sense. It is increasing for a few reasons. First, people are making money, and the way to make more money is to increase the output. Second, and probably the biggest reason is spam filters!!! Spam filter typically block about 98% of the spam sent. With that fact, you can see that a spammer needs to drastically increase the number of emails sent, just to make the same money he made a few years ago. The Can Spam Act of 2003 has really not done much to eliminate spam. It has set guidelines that legitimate companies must abide by for email marketing (like this one). But it has had negligible impact on the true target of the legislation, and has no impact on spam that originates overseas. More than half the world's spam originates in Russia and the Ukraine. At this time it is estimated that more than 90% of all email around the world is spam.
Sure Spam is a nuisance, but what are the real threats?
Most of the spam out there is simply a nuisance, but some have severe consequences. Most people know about viruses, worms and trojans, but there is a huge growth rate on the amount of phishing, spoofing botnets and keystokers being delivered via email. Phishing is a legitimate looking email sent in an attempt to gather personal information. Spoofing is the high-jacking of an email address to disseminate spam so it looks like it is coming from a legitimate source (you). Botnets download malicious software that can enable a criminal to take over your PC. Keystrokers run in the background on a PC and record every keystroke made. Then the keystrokes are later retrieved to see if they can get credit card or other personal information.
OK, we get it. Spam is a real problem, but what can we do about it?
So now that we all understand that spam is much more than just a nuisance, here is a top ten list of ideas to help stem the tide - and they are all FREE!!!
1) Set up at least two separate email accounts. Use one for trusted contacts, friends and family. Use the other for newsletter, or websites that require an email for you to see the information you want etc. Now this does not actually prevent spam per say, but it does allow you to have one clean account that isn't out in the public domain.
2) Use some sort of anti-virus program. And yes there are free ones out there that do a very good job. I don't know them all, but I use the free version of AVG and it works great.
3) Update regularly. Update your browser, your operating system, your email client and your AV software regularly. Patches and fixes are put out for a reason - a known vulnerability. Stay updated; it's easy and effective.
4) Do not trust or confirm plug-ins, ActiveX components or applets that are of unknown origin. Another free software I run is WinPatrol (PCs only - sorry Apple Heads). This program alerts you if any site, email or program is trying to install any of these things on your system and gives you the option to stop it.
5) Don't accept 3rd party cookies; do this by setting your browser to medium level or higher on Internet Explorer.
6) If you do get spam email and it offers you the option to "unsubscribe" DON"T DO IT! When you unsubscribe, all you are really doing is telling the spammer - hey I'm a real person, you got a live email address; now they know they can sell it to hundreds of other spammers. If it is a legitimate newsletter that you did sign up for, you can unsubscribe.
7) I know this one is a hassle, but if you really want to slow down the spam you need to read through the terms and conditions before you give your email address to any entity online. Uncheck the box that is checked by default that allows them to "automatically send me updates and information that may be of interest to me". Also check to see if their Ts & Cs give them the right to sell or distribute your email address to anyone else. If it does, then you need to decide if it's worth it to you.
Never, ever open links or attachments you receive from people you don't know! It's like playing Russian roulette with a six-shooter that has 5 bullets in it - it's just not smart.
9) If you have to post your email address on a website, do it in a way that an automated program won't recognize it as such. For example: instead of me@mycompany.com, spell it out - Me at Mycompany dot com, or you can use an image of your email address and link it to the page. No one will be able to click on your email address and send you a message, but no automated software will be able to grab it off the site either.
10) Report spam. Even though this will not eliminate spam it will be helpful in making better software to detect and block spam.
OK, so these tips won't eliminate spam, but they can definitely help curb the amount you receive. And the best part is - they are all free! There are some effective ways to eliminate spam, but they come at a cost. The purpose of this article is two-fold. First; help readers take practical steps to reduce the amount of spam they receive. Second; and even more important is to educate the reader that spam is more than a nuisance. Spam is laced with deceptive and damaging intentions with every click. Don't be a victim. Be diligent with handling your email. The only way spammers will stop is if it is no longer profitable
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