According to Talos Security Intelligence and Research Group, a division of Cisco Systems, 86 percent of emails sent worldwide are unwelcome junk mail, or spam. Not only is spam annoying, it can also be dangerous if you or one of your employees accidentally succumb to one of their schemes.
With the prevalence of spam today, not only do you need the right technology in place to keep it under control, you also need to educate your users on how to reduce the amount of spam that you may unintentionally be inviting in.
Here are a few ways to reduce spam -- and hopefully reduce some stress for you too.
Don’t Sign Up for Mailing Lists
One of the best ways to reduce spam is to minimize the amount of information that you give to online sources. Those who send spam (spammers) have to get your email address somehow, so it’s important to only provide it to trusted online services and retailers so it doesn’t get into the wrong hands.
When posting in online forums, signing up for new services, and doing online shopping, consider the value of your email address. The more spammers and companies that have your email address, the more spam you’re likely to get.
Be Careful Where You Click
Another way to reduce spam is to avoid clicking on malicious links in emails. Much like phishing emails, these are innocent looking links which lead you to believe that you will receive something of value by clicking them.
You may be thinking “I was hoping not to get malicious links in my inbox in the first place!” You’re right, that would be best case scenario, however realistically, there is no amount of technological intervention that can stop ALL spam messages from getting to you. Hackers are really good, and getting better by the day. So we have to do everything we can to help stop the spread.
Back to the malicious links – if you get an email that you’re not expecting from a financial institution, shipping provider, or even a coworker and it seems odd to you, do not interact with it. Call the sender to verify its legitimacy. Clicking on the links and attachments could infect your system, or it could just tip-off the hacker that they’ve found active email account. If they know your account is active, that could trigger much more spam. Also, beware of the “Unsubscribe” link in emails. If it’s an email list you signed up for and you’d like to be removed, then you’re probably safe. But if it’s a scam, that’s one link that they trick people into clicking.
See Something, Say Something
Be sure to alert your IT team when you receive spam messages. They likely have a plethora of IT security measures in place to keep your inbox clean, such as monitoring and updating your spam filter on a daily basis. The only way they know that you’re having a problem is if you report it. Once they know it’s an issue, they can put additional measures in place to block the messages that are affecting you.
As featured in the September 25 issue of The Press-Enterprise
