Your Guide to Fighting Spam
Spam has grown to such an extent that internet users have started to suffer from lack of confidence in emails as a mode of communication and even the spread of computer virus is another area of disturbance. The first decisive step against bulk unsolicited commercial email was taken in December 2003 when President Bush signed the Can Spam bill against bulk commercial unsolicited emails.
This bill essentially stops all senders of bulk commercial emails which are unsolicited after hiding their real identities by giving false return addresses and using tools like dictionaries to make such mailers. No waylaying subject line and the email must have an opt out provision are two important rules for the sender to follow. The law prevents the sender from accessing addresses from websites and any violation of the law can entail imprisonment up to one year.
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: Whatever you do, make sure that your email address is never there on the net. ‘Spam spider’ is a kind of product which looks for email addresses in the net and then gather them for sending subsequent emails. If the word ’spam spider’ triggers your interest do a search for this word on the net, the results might just shock you. The internet rogues like ’spambots’ and ’spam spiders’ are controlled very effectively by a site called WebPoison.org which is a open source project as they send them bogus web pages which carry equally 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: One of the common features about spam is that they carry attachments which could easily carry viruses. Large corporations usually use spam filters which prevents any spam mail from reaching you. Firewall vendors offer this type of 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.