Spam
The resurgence of spam is generating a lot of attention right now, so here's a quick explanation of what's going on, and what to do about it.
One reason spam is once again clogging up your inbox: Spammers have turned anti-spam technology against us right now.
Many Web sites require users to create accounts by typing in a word or scrambled letters that appear in a graphic (and sometimes, that word is too hard to see). That technology is called CAPTCHA, which stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart. Web site designers employ this tedious process because it prevents spammers from creating millions of fake accounts -- it turns out to be a very difficult problem for computers to "read" images.
Frustrated by CAPTCHA, spammers turned the tool on its head. Now, about half of all spam comes as pictures, which are often impossible for computers to distinguish from snapshots of the grandkids. Image spam is the big reason your inbox seems out of control again. A more detailed explanation of what's going on was provided in Friday's column.
Similar to the problem of computer viruses, there is no simple solution for spam. Instead, it's a cat-and-mouse game between the bad guys and the companies trying to send us our e-mail. So unfortunately I can't tell you precisely what to do to clean up your inbox. But there are some things you can do to minimize your exposure to spam, and to help the institutions that are fighting it.
The first and most important step: Remove your e-mail address from any Web sites where it appears. Web "scraping" of addresses is still an effective tool for spammers. Don't make their job any easier. If you must post the address, turn it into an image and post that. You might as well use the techniques the spammers use.
Guard your e-mail address like your credit card number. Only give your primary address to people you trust. Create "junk" accounts for newsletters and Web sites that force you to log in with an e-mail address. When they get overrun with spam, discard them.
Also, when at all possible, don't open e-mail from people you don't know. Opening some spam automatically sends a message, sort of like a return receipt, back to the spammer. Now he or she will know you're a live person, and you'll never hear the end of it.
For additional information on spam, you can browse through some of the stories done at MSNBC.com, including a project called "Spam Wars" we published a couple of years ago. At the home page for the project is an interesting infographic on the cat and mouse games spammers and anti-spammers play.
You'll also find out what happens when you answer spam in "Who profits from spam?"and see what's going on ""In the trenches of the 'spam wars.'"
For a more detailed list of suggestions, click through Spam: What is it and how to fight it
For Best Results:
- Use Norton Internet Security on your computer
- Use Outlook or Outlook Express to download ALL email off of server and Norton will dump into SPAM folder for you
- Virus Security Response
Call Us Today For More Information:
956-458-6296