Denver IT Support: Anti-phishing Software
Growing technology allows the threat of spam to continue evolving, and phishing is the scam of the moment spammers are using. Your best defense against phishing is to be cautious and maintain a healthy level of skepticism. However, you can save time by using good anti-phishing software.
North Star Strategic IT – Your Denver IT Support company
Anti-phishing software works by searching for any phishing content that may exist in an email. It is normally used as a complementary service to your email service in the form of a toolbar. This toolbar will display the real name of any website you visit and any fake websites phishers tend to use.
This software offers a backup defense for blocking phishing attacks and sites that might… Continue reading...
The Costs of Spam
The sheer volume of spam that is mailed out every minute has reached epidemic proportions. There is one simple reason for this, the cost is little and the rewards are excellent. Anyone with a list of addresses and internet access can send out thousands or millions of messages with a click. The cost to others however is now running in the millions of dollars.
Bandwidth
Spam costs everyone valuable internet bandwidth that is used for spam instead of legitimate business or personal use. Bandwidth is the rate at which data is transmitted, particularly the amount that can be transmitted in a specific amount of time. The lower bandwidth rate, the slower information travels.
Think of it as a traffic jam on a major highway… Continue reading...
Spam – What is Your Protection Under the Law?
Spam has become the scourge of the internet world over the past several years, costing honest businesses much in time and money.
As the spam epidemic has grown the government has enacted the CAN-SPAM act (Controlling the Assault of Non Solicited Pornography and Marketing). This act has attempted to legislate the activities of any company hoping to send bulk commercial email as well as companies that are marketing their products in the messages. It has created stiffer penalties for those who violate it and gives the consumer the right and the way to ask that spammers cease and desist.
The CAN-SPAM act was signed in January of 2004. This act covers any and all emails whose express purpose is advertising or promotion. Even including… Continue reading...
Don’t Fall for the Phisher’s Bait
You should never respond to an unsolicited email that asks you to update or verify personal information, such as bank account or social security numbers. Banks, stores, and other real businesses will never ask for this information through email, especially after an incident involved in a phishing scam. Most real business will ask you to verify your info over the phone or in person.
It is always best to immediately contact a company directly if you have any doubts about an email you received asking for information. Use the contact number listed on your invoice or statement, because the contact number on the email will most likely direct you to the identity thief.
You should never click on any links in an email you… Continue reading...
Five Tips to Protect Yourself from the Spam in Your Inbox
Spam has become an unfortunate part of life; you probably received some just today in your email. What you do with the junk mail when you get it will determine how much of this annoying stuff you get from now on. In addition, you can also protect yourself from various scams such as credit card fraud and identity theft as well as viruses and other internet crimes. The next time you check your email use these five tips to put a stop to spammers for good.
Do not Preview
If your email comes with a preview option, you will want to disable this function. The reason this is so important is many spam type emails contain an imbedded code that will infiltrate… Continue reading...
Popular Email Scams on the Internet Today
Phishing Scams:
Phishing is a very popular scam on the internet today. Its purpose is to gain access to information pertaining to bank accounts, credit cards, social security numbers, pin numbers, passwords, or any other information the scammers can use for financial gain. The main purpose for this scam is identity theft.
The phishers send out emails that appear to be from a company you normally do business with. They include a link in the email for you to follow to go to the company website. When you click the link and go there, it looks the same as the company site, but it is a fake website designed by the scam artist. You have been asked to go to this website to update… Continue reading...
Phishing-101
A phishing email is designed to steal a person’s identity. The scammer uses certain tactics to get you to provide personal information, which they can use to access bank accounts or other sensitive information. They will try to get your passwords, credit or debit card numbers, birth dates, pin numbers, passwords and other personal information they can use to steal your identity. The procedure used to persuade their victims to give out personal information has been labeled as a form of social engineering.
Scammers normally launch their attack with a mass mailing of spam emails, millions of email clients are targeted in one single mailing. The subject of the email is designed to trigger an immediate response from the user. Many people… Continue reading...
Spam Protection – Know Thy Enemy: Viruses and Malware, Trojans and Adware
Spam has increasingly become known for containing malicious software that can actually hurt your personal computer. The entire purpose of these programs is to carry out unauthorized, commonly detrimental, actions. They self install on your computer, infect every program and file that they can. Usually these types of viruses are spread via email. Spammers will disguise them as harmless attachments in the hope that you will download them.
These programs come in many forms, the most common of which are viruses, Trojan horse, malware and adware. Being knowledgeable about their presence and how they work will protect you from this kind of spam.
Viruses
Viruses are computer programs that were designed for one thing: to infect your system and cause major damage… Continue reading...
The What, Who, Where and Why of Spam
What began as simply a minor annoyance in your email has now become a vehicle for criminal activity. Everything from frauds to corporate espionage is being perpetrated in this manner. The 4 W’s of spam should answer the most frequently asked questions.
What is Spam?
Junk mail or spam is defined by most in the internet world as unsolicited commercial email, or UCE. This email is sent out en-masse to a large number of recipients who never requested it. The contents of a spam message can range from an innocuous advertisement to a malicious program that can take over your computer and do untold damage.
Common commercial spam often contains pyramid schemes, porn sites, mortgages, chain letters, credit repair, illegal… Continue reading...
