Boblet Learned things and Japan diary, by Oli Studholme

Chain Email, Viruses and Spam

By Oli
At 9:10 PM · Thursday, 13 November · 2003
To The ‘Net

This is a very brief guide on how not to get Chain Email, Viruses and Spam.

Chain Email

(Or anything that contains the line “send this to everyone you know”, usually for a reward or to avoid something bad) These are almost always hoaxes. You can check by looking in the Urban Legends archive (use Search) or doing a Google search for the sender’s name, email address, or unique-looking bits of information. Anything that says you’ll get money for sending email is a hoax, 100% guaranteed.

Forwarding these emails on will make you look silly, plus they are great sources of email addresses for spammers and virus-infected computers. They fill up your in-box and slow down the internet too.

Viruses

While you will generally be safe if you don’t use a computer running Microsoft software, avoiding viruses can still be pretty easy for everyone.

• Never open an attachment you weren’t expecting
• Look at the last suffix/extension of the attachment — if it’s not .jpg .gif .png .html or .pdf be even more wary (ayashii.jpg.exe is not a picture)
• Try to keep your computer up-to-date with security patches; for Windows check Security Updates, for MacOS X set Preferences > Software Update to check weekly.
• Try to avoid Outlook Express if possible
• Check your email client’s settings (usually Preferences > Security) to make sure it can’t do anything you don’t want (ie run programs/scripts)
• If possible install anti-virus software; use and update it regularly (or better automatically)
• Don’t send virus warnings to friends

I’m sure you realize double-clicking on a virus will lead you to a whole world of pain. It’s like safe sex — practice safe computing, because you don’t want to get infected.

Spam

It’s harder to avoid this evil, but it’s possible:

• Never put your email address on a home page without protection. If possible use a form.
• Never use your real email address in Usenet or online chat/bulletin boards
• Don’t rely on writing your email address strangely (for example, using “at” instead of @)
• Never send mass or chain emails, or virus warnings
• Never use the “remove me” links in spam
• Try to use disposable email addresses or a forwarding service (that forwards mail to your real email address) when giving your email address to companies — if they are spammers, you can delete the forwarding email address and keep your main one
• Don’t subscribe to things unnecessarily (eg free newsletters when signing up with Hotmail)
• Don’t use Hotmail or Yahoo Mail if you can avoid it — they have enough users that sending random emailsspam is worthwile
• If you need internet email, check out Novell’s MyRealBox.com — it automatically blocks viruses and spam, and has a very strict anti-spam policy. It also offers a free POP service.
• If you have a weblog using MovableType, there are useful links in Comment spam & MT-Blacklist to help protect your weblog

If spammers get your email address, expect a massive amount of crap in your inbox leading to you using an anti-spam service, changing your email address, and/or intense anger. I wrote a bit more about Spam in “Where does Spam come from?” if you’re interested.

Summary

OK I hope that makes sense. Avoiding bad stuff on the internet is generally common sense. For more information, check out a safe computing guide or Google Directory’s Computer Security section. If you have any questions, leave a comment.