Thursday, June 11, 2009

Fighting Spam the Right Way

By Amanda Gamdana

Spam today has made many internet users rethink about the usability of emails as a mode of communication so even the spread of computer virus is a matter of great concern. With the signing of the Can Spam bill by President Bush in December 2003, the first standard was set against bulk unsolicited email which are of commercial in nature.

The bill was subsequently ratified and voted by the Senate by a vote 97 to 0 which debars senders from sending bulk commercial unsolicited emails by disguising their real identities and taking the help of dictionaries to construct such mailers. Additionally the emails must carry an opt out facility and can not carry any subject line which is misleading. The law entails that the sender can not scan through websites for addresses and any violation can mean up to one year behind bars.

Spam from other countries are now larger in quantity and this is a major point of consideration. These emails are harder to fight, because they come from outside our country's laws and regulations. These problems are difficult to handle, though the laws may sound good since the internet knows no country barriers. Is there any thing you could do for protection? Here are the top tried and tested rules for protection against spam:

Number 1: Avoid displaying your email address on the net at all cost. 'Spam spiders' are specialized products which hunt for email address on the net for using as a mailing list later. If the word 'spam spider' triggers your interest do a search for this word on the net, the results might just shock you. Interestingly, there is a site, WebPoison.org, which is an open source project geared to fight Internet 'spambots' and 'spam spiders', by giving them bogus HTML web pages, which contain bogus email addresses.

Number 2: Get yourself a software which blocks spam. Chances are that you might decide to go in for the professional version but whatever you do getting the software is a must since it would help you save plenty of time. The software is not foolproof, but they really do help although you will usually have to carry out some manual set up to block certain types of email.

Number 3: Start using various email addresses. You could have multiple email addresses serving various purposes and you would always have back up addresses too. This is just like your friends contacting you through your private and personal cell number but when it is others, they contact you via your official number.

Number 4: A common problem with spam is that they have attachments and attachments can have viruses. Spammers find it difficult to reach you through companies as they use filters to block such mail. Try looking at Firewall vendors for such services.

Number 5: Email services now have 'bulk-mail' baskets. The concept is simple. What you do when you receive email from any stranger, put them in a bulk email pile and then allow it to move into your circle. All software which block spam work with the same logic but having a couple of more layers is what makes the difference so another look may be necessary.

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