Email is one of the most effective ways to communicate in the business world.  It’s fast, cheap, recordable, searchable, and most of all it’s easy!  It’s so versatile; you can attach files, links, and videos…you name it and email can deliver it.  I use email constantly throughout my day to communicate with my clients and colleagues.  It’s the primary way that I correspond with the outside world. 

Unfortunately, evil doers have discovered these benefits as well and are using this tool against us.  Email is quickly becoming the most widely used and effective delivery method of malicious software.  Any computer threat can be delivered through email.  Viruses, spyware, Trojans – you name it, email can deliver it. 

What can we do?  First, let’s identify the real problem.  It’s Spam!  There are not too many things that I dislike more than spam.  It is a constant ailment to countless business people.  Whether you host your own email or you’ve outsourced it, spam can still affect you. 

Spam has developed into a very broad term.  Wikipedia.com defines it as “the abuse of electronic messaging systems…to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately.”   For our purposes I’ll define it as junk mail.

I’ve seen new clients with an excess of 1,000 junk emails on a daily basis.  How do these people get any correspondence done?  It seems like they spend half their day working in the mailroom, just sorting the good email from the spam.  Not only is this waste of time, it’s also very dangerous.  This is one of those situations where people spend more time trying to get there technology to work then the technology saves.

The Big Questions:
-How much time do you spend sorting email every day?
-Are you getting all that junk on your phone too?
-Are you safe from email threats?

I would make two classifications of Spam.  The first would be the relatively innocent advertisement.  This type of spam is sent to you with the intention that you’ll view it just like any other advertisement.  These make up the overwhelming majority of all spam messages sent.  It’s the reason we have to sift through tons of messages just to get to the ones that matter.  The second type of spam is the malicious email.  This email can carry with it any digital threat.  There are far fewer of these emails, but they can really mess things up!  You’ll normally find they are well disguised and can be tricky. Never verify any account information via an email or link from an email.  If you have an account with a company they already have your information!

Let’s talk about how we can protect ourselves…

Filter, filter, filter…  Filtering is the process of scanning your email for viruses and identifying junk so you don’t have to.  These are the building blocks of any anti-spam solution.  Fundamentally there are two methods used to filter your email…one for home and one for work. 

The first and most basic method is desktop-based.  This is great for home users.  You install an anti-spam program that filters your email as you download it from the server.  Many Internet security suites will come packaged with some sort of anti-spam component.  Although they are mildly effective, most people find them to be adequate.  I recommend Trend-Micro’s Internet Security Suite for home use.   If you find that you have a more severe spam problem, I recommend getting a stand-alone anti-spam application.  The best desktop anti-spam application out right now is made by Cloud Mark.

The second method of filtering spam is domain or server based.  It’s a transparent and effective process.  There is no software to download or install on your computer!  Essentially it’s a service that filters your email before it even gets to your inbox.  This form of filtering brings with it many benefits that most businesses need when it comes to effective messaging, including:

less maintenance;
more security;
easier management; and
centralized reporting.

More and more companies are developing this service and are regularly claiming 95% to 99% spam removal and 100% virus removal.  …And with virtually no false-positives!  (A false-positive is an email that is incorrectly classified as spam.)  It almost sounds too good to be true, but I can personally attest to the effectiveness of this method.  It works!  And it works as well as they say it does!  I had quite an extensive spam problem before I implemented this type of solution.  Now when I see a new message in my inbox, I know it’s for me and it’s something I’ll want to read.  It is so liberating to have control over my inbox again.  Most of my clients say the same thing and so can you. 

 © 2010 Engler Information Technologies, Inc.

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