Spam protection

If you have an e-mail account, you deal with spam every day. But if you want to stop spam, you’ll need a spam filter. Try using anti-spam software that stops spam from cluttering up your inbox.

Types of spam

Spam is anonymous, unsolicited, bulk e-mail. As well as offering goods and services, spam e-mails can be:

• Political messages
• Quasi-charity appeals
• Financial scams
• Chain letters
• Fake spam being used to spread malware

How do spammers get my e-mail address?

Spammers use several tricks to discover the e-mail addresses of their potential victims:

• Scanning web sites
• Scanning bulletin boards, forums, chatrooms, etc
• Using “easy” addresses such as john@, mary@, sales@
• Using “short” addresses such as aa@, bb@, abc@

What can I do to stop spam e-mails?

One way to control spam is to have two e-mail addresses. Use your private address for personal correspondence only. The public address should be the one you use to register on public forums, in chat rooms, or to subscribe to mailing lists.

Never publish your private address on publicly accessible resources.

Never respond to junk spam e-mails. The more you respond, the more spam e-mail you will receive.

Never click on unsubscribe in an e-mail if you haven’t already subscribed.

Spam fighters

Most e-mail and webmail providers offer a free spam filter with your account which filters mail on delivery.

But if your e-mail program or webmail spam blocker doesn’t do enough, consider installing anti-spam software to fight against spam.

For example, Kaspersky has anti-spam software for users of corporate mail systems and public e-mail services, while individual consumers can stop spam with Kaspersky PURE or Internet Security 2011, both of which fight digital pollution and keep malicious content and spam at bay.

How anti-spam software works

Most programs work by filtering your mail into a separate mailbox or deleting it automatically.

The companies that make the programs also create a blacklist of sellers. Every time you delete a junk e-mail, these companies add the e-mail to their spam list.