Don't Be an Identity Theft Victim: E-mail Safety Tips

Remember the good old days: To send a picture to your family, you had to put it in envelope, mark the envelope "Photos-Do Not Bend" (which, apparently in some languages means "Bend this"), then find their mailing address, hunt for stamps, try to guess how many to use, then wait 3-37 business days for them to receive it. You business owners out there, remember trying to get your client that important proposal, having to get everything typed up and signed before 4 pm to make sure it went out overnight? Then, remembering at 4:15 that you forgot to include that important page.

My how we have grown. E-mail is a truly invaluable tool. What would we do without it! Now, we use it to send pictures to friends and family instantly. We use it to request more information about that vacation we want to take. Office coworkers use it to communicate with one another and businesses use it to communicate with customers and vendors. E-mail is fun and very cost efficient. But, it is not very secure. It is one of the main ways of transmitting viruses and other malicious software from computer to computer. Also, it is possible for your e-mail to be read by someone other than your intended recipient. E-mail is really like sending a postcard through the mail. Anyone can read what you write on a postcard. Knowing that, you would never write "secret" stuff on a postcard and that same rule should apply to your e-mail.

This article is the second in our series "Protect your Data Online and in the Office". Remember, a thief first needs your data in order to steal your identity. That is what we want to prevent. The first article in our series dealt with creating good, strong passwords. Now, we will offer some tips and suggestions that will help keep you safe while using e-mail. But first, where did e-mail come from?

A Very Brief History of E-mail
Very basic e-mail actually first appeared on scene in early 1960s. However, it only worked with a certain type of computer and so was not feasible for the masses. But then, in the early 1990s, the modern version of e-mail began to take shape. America Online and Delphi began to connect their corporate e-mail systems to the Internet and viola, the modern e-mail standard was born. Now anyone could send a certain number of e-mails each month for around $10 (can you imagine having to pay for e-mail?). Today, estimates on the number of e-mails send each day range from a little over 2 billion (yes, that is "billion") to 60 billion. Wow! That is allot of communication. It also provides plenty of opportunity for unscrupulous people to spread viruses and harvest sensitive data. So, lets see how we can limit our risk while using e-mail.

E-mail Attachments
Be skeptical of attachments. Even if you know the person sending you the message, if you are not expecting an attachment, don' t open it. The attachment may contain nasty little programs know as "letterbombs." One of these could easily render your computer useless. The best course of action is to contact the sender and ask them if they sent you a file. They can then verify that it was indeed from them. Then, you can decide to open it or not. If you decide to open it, make sure your anti-virus software is operating and is up-do-date. This may be an inconvenience, but it is much better than possibly installing a trojan horse program or a virus.

Links In Your E-mail Message
Be skeptical of links to web sites that may be included in the e-mail. You must make sure the link will lead you to where you think it will. The link may say it will lead you to the "E-Bay" site, for example. However, in reality, it might lead you to a questionable web site. Rather than clicking on any link within your e-mail message, copy the URL and paste it into your web browser. Here's how:

? While in the e-mail, highlight the entire link in question and press Ctrl-C.

? Open your web browser.

? Highlight the text contained in the address bar at the top and press Ctrl-V.

? Read the text carefully and make sure it looks safe. Sometimes the underlying URL is different from what appears in the e-mail message.

Install an anti-spoofing program like Spoofstick. It is a great little program that will alert you if you are about to go to a questionable site.

Personal Data
Never transmit credit card, bank account, social security number, passwords or any other information you consider private via e-mail. Remember, it is really like sending a postcard.

"But I got this email from my bank. They told me that I had to update my account information or it will be suspended", you may say. Amazingly, thousands fall for this. While the e-mail may look official, right down to the institution's logo, it is most likely a scam. Don't fall for it. Financial institutions will not do this sort of thing via e-mail. Most likely, they will send you a letter in the mail, requesting that you update your information. However, if you think that the request may really be legitimate, call them on the phone at the number that you have on record. Then you will be sure if the request is valid.

Passwords
Change your passwords often. This does not take long and goes a long way to protecting your data. See our article "Tips for Creating Good Passwords" for more information on this important step.

Spam
This is probably the number one complaint that clients have. While it is almost impossible to completely avoid spam, here are some things that can limit your exposure:

? Never reply to spam. Sometimes there is an "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of the message. However, if you click it, you are probably just signifying to the spammer that he has found a legitimate address and he will be sure to send you more spam.

? Enable your e-mail software's spam filtering features. This varies from e-mail program to e-mail program. Consult the help section of the software that you use for more information.

? Do not post your e-mail address on any web page. Programs called "harvesters" routinely search the Internet for e-mail addresses to gather and sell to spammers.

? Use a free e-mail account address (such as through Yahoo, MSN, Google) when filling out web forms. These addresses are free and, in most cases, they are very good at spam filtering.

? When filling out a web form, make sure to uncheck any box indicating you would like to receive "additional information" or "production information from related vendors" (unless you want to receive such correspondence).

Using Public Computers
When using a public computer at a library or coffee shop, for example, make sure you sign out when you are done. That way, the next user will not be privy to your account information. Also, make sure you close the browser you were using when you are ready to end your Internet session. Some computers are setup to automatically remove private information when they are closed. If you are not sure, ask the administrator.

In Conclusion
Hopefully, this article provided you with some new ideas regarding e-mail safety. Common sense and a healthy dose of skepticism will go a long way to keeping you and your data safe. Use caution when revealing personal information, such as account numbers or passwords, to anyone you meet in cyberspace because they may not be who they claim to be.

Next in the series will be an article discussing some software that will help to keep you safe. Make sure to bookmark our blog and check back for that article.