The major use of the internet is sending emails, not web browsing. We all get emails everyday and as anyone who has used the internet for more than 15 minutes knows, not all the emails we get are emails we want. Emails can be a security hole in your organisation but there are steps you can take to limit the damage emails can cause. The best defence is the "onion defence" with various layers of security. It sounds difficult but it is very simple.
Layer 1 - The simplest, cheapest thing you can do
The easiest way to avoid email trouble is to tell people in your organisation what not to do. Ram the following facts home.
- No bank or building society will ever ask you for your bank details or to confirm your details.
- Never unsubscribe from spam emails. It just proves to the spammers that the email account is active and they will send more.
- Adverts for cheap Rolexes will never get you a cheap Rolex. It will, however, give your credit card details to crooks.
- Treat all email from people you don't know as suspicious and virus ridden
- If it has an attachement and you do not know who sent it, then be doubly suspicious.
Layer 2 - Reading as few emails as possible
Almost all email programs have the ability to filter emails depending on their content. Some, such as Mozilla's Thunderbird can be trained to automatically identify and junk spam emails and it often gets 90% of spam. Security suites such as Norton Internet Security also offer the ability to filter emails and weed out the rubbish. Even Microsoft's Outlook and Outlook Express offer the ability to filter emails. Simply go to Tools | Rules and set up rules to delete emails containing known spam words such as "viagra", "cialas", "rolex", etc. The filtering ability of these programs is primitive compared to Thunderbird, but it is better than no filtering at all. [Note: Thunderbird is a replacement for Outlook Express, not for Outlook. If you only use Outlook for receiving emails and not for managing contacts then Thundrbird is a viable replacement].
Layer 3 - Receiving as few emails as possible
Obviously one way to reduce spam is to receive less emails in the first place. There are two ways to do this. Firstly, do not have a "catch all" email address where any email that does not match a normal address winds up. By not having a "catch all" you will avoid most spam because most spam is incorrectly addressed. Secondly, ask your internet service provider if they provide spam filtering. Many do and they will block the really obvious stuff from getting to you.
The Last Word
Make sure that every computer has anti-virus software on it. Sooner or later the spam will get through and when it does it may be carrying a virus. Make sure that your anti-virus is up to date.
