Block Spam with An Easy Behavioral Change

Written by Catherine Franz


By Catherine Franz

E-mails now have a connection back to their servers. I will leaverepparttar technical aspects out of this article. Instead, I will walk you through how information from your computer is getting back to them.

You have probably experienced this already, an e-mail lands in your box with many symbols inrepparttar 109483 subject line created withrepparttar 109484 Shift Key plus a Number Key. This isrepparttar 109485 most common one. For example, it may look like this: &*)(*&^%$! Exceptrepparttar 109486 length ofrepparttar 109487 symbols are longer.

When you click on it to delete it, any further action, includingrepparttar 109488 deletion ofrepparttar 109489 e-mail seems to go into la-la land. In other words, you can do anything else. This may last up to a minute or two depending on your computer speed. You have just been pinged and information is going back to their server saying there is a live connection.

In addition, becauserepparttar 109490 symbols change allrepparttar 109491 time, it’s difficult to block them unless you use a program like Spam Arrest.

Here is an easy way and excellent way to protect from this and all you have to do is changerepparttar 109492 way you dial in and out.

If you have a DSL line or any other type Internet connection that is open allrepparttar 109493 time. Control how frequently you allow e-mails to upload into your system. If you use Outlook, you go into Tools, Options, selectrepparttar 109494 Mail Delivery tab and change "check messages every" 30, 60 or 90 minutes. This also helps on time management if e-mails are eating up too much of your time.

Your Reputation Precedes You

Written by CipherTrust


A Look atrepparttar Past, Present and Future of Email Reputation Systems

“Reputation, reputation, reputation! Oh, I have lost my reputation! I have lostrepparttar 109482 immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.”

--Spoken by Cassio, in Shakespeare’s Othello (circa 1602)

Though written over four centuries ago,repparttar 109483 sentiment behind these words still holds true – you’re nothing without your reputation. Every day, different reputation systems dictate who you are to those who don’t know you. To lenders, you’re a credit score. To insurance companies, you’re a calculated risk. And now, thanks torepparttar 109484 next generation of reputation systems, you’re an IP score.

For obvious reasons, spammers, phishers and virus writers would prefer to hide their identities. They use countless techniques to disguise themselves withrepparttar 109485 intent of sneaking into your enterprise inboxes, robbing you blind or hijacking your network – or both.

Onrepparttar 109486 other hand, those who would fight these senders are well served to know whorepparttar 109487 senders are and what they’ve been up to. To that end, email reputation systems are used to figure out what sort of behavior senders have demonstrated inrepparttar 109488 past and make educated predictions of their future behavior, for better or for worse.

Content Inspection Is Not Enough

Unfortunately, many enterprises rely on an email security solution based solely on message content; understandingrepparttar 109489 source of a particular message never entersrepparttar 109490 equation. While this approach is moderately effective when dealing with messages that contain specific spam identifiers, it is completely ineffective at stopping spam that employs techniques not yet seen.

Email Security with Reputation

A comprehensive approach to email security involves examining both message content and sender history. By evaluating senders based on their past behavior, a more accurate picture of their intentions and legitimacy can be discerned. Hasrepparttar 109491 sender engaged in spamming, virus distribution or phishing attacks? If they have, an effective reputation system knows and flagsrepparttar 109492 message. Hasrepparttar 109493 sender even been seen before? If not, a reputation system should pay close attention to ensure thatrepparttar 109494 sender is not a “zombie” machine being controlled remotely by a hacker.

First-Generation Reputation Systems

Inrepparttar 109495 “early days” of spam (circa 2001), simple blacklists and whitelists seemed like an appropriate response torepparttar 109496 nuisance messages that had begun to show up in inboxes aroundrepparttar 109497 world. Blacklists containrepparttar 109498 IP addresses of known spammers, phishers and virus senders; whitelists containrepparttar 109499 IP addresses of senders known to be legitimate. Referencing these lists allowed companies to filter a segment of their total mail flow, briefly curbingrepparttar 109500 onslaught of spam messages. However, their shortcomings were exposed relatively quickly.

The very nature of whitelists and blacklists makes them manual by default. In order for a list to be updated, all messages (both wanted and unwanted) must first be received by an end user and then manually reported to a system administrator. With this sort of end-user reliance, it’s easy to see whyrepparttar 109501 glory days of list-only reputation systems were short-lived.

Further compounding matters, lists rely on anecdotal evidence, openingrepparttar 109502 door to “vigilantes” who add senders to blacklists without first verifying that they’re actually malicious; and spammers, who add themselves to whitelists which take a “pay-to-play” approach, allowing any “bonded” sender to buy their way ontorepparttar 109503 list.

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