ESET SMART SECURITY User's Guide download pdf (Page 118)

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6.4 Email

Email, or electronic mail, is a modern form of communication with many advantages. It is flexible, fast and direct,

and played a crucial role in the proliferation of the Internet in the early 1990‘s.

Unfortunately, with a high level of anonymity, email and the Internet leave room for illegal activities such as

spamming. Spam includes unsolicited advertisements, hoaxes and proliferation of malicious software – malware.

The inconvenience and danger to you is increased by the fact that the cost of sending spam is minimal, and authors

of spam have many tools to acquire new email addresses. In addition, the volume and variety of spam makes it very

difficult to regulate. The longer you use your email address, the more likely it will end up in a spam engine

database. Some hints for prevention:

If possible, don’t publish your email address on the Internet

Only give your email address to trusted individuals

If possible, don’t use common aliases – with more complicated aliases, the probability of tracking is lower

Don’t reply to spam that has already arrived in your inbox

Be careful when filling out Internet forms – be especially cautious of options such as “Yes, I want to receive

information”.

Use “specialized” email addresses – e.g., one for business, one for communication with your friends, etc.

From time to time, change your email address

Use an Antispam solution

6.4.1 Advertisements

Internet advertising is one of the most rapidly growing forms of advertising. Its main marketing advantages are

minimal costs and a high level of directness; what’s more, messages are delivered almost immediately. Many

companies use email marketing tools to effectively communicate with current and prospective customers.

This type of advertising is legitimate, since you may be interested in receiving commercial information about some

products. But many companies send unsolicited bulk commercial messages. In such cases, email advertising crosses

the line and becomes spam.

The amount of unsolicited email has become a problem and it shows no signs of slowing. Authors of unsolicited

email often attempt to disguise spam as legitimate messages.

6.4.2 Hoaxes

A hoax is misinformation which is spread across the Internet. Hoaxes are usually sent via email or communication

tools like ICQ and Skype. The message itself is often a joke or Urban Legend.

Computer Virus hoaxes try to generate fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) in the recipients, bringing them to believe

that there is an “undetectable virus“ deleting files and retrieving passwords, or performing some other harmful

activity on their system.

Some hoaxes work by asking recipients to forward messages to their contacts, perpetuating the hoax. There are

mobile phone hoaxes, pleas for help, people offering to send you money from abroad, etc. It is often impossible to

determine the intent of the creator.

If you see a message prompting you to forward it to everyone you know, it may very well be a hoax. There are many

websites on the Internet that can verify if an email is legitimate. Before forwarding, perform an Internet search on

any message you suspect is a hoax.

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ESET SMART SECURITY User's Guide Page 118