Email Security, Computer, PC Security, Data Backup

Email Security Tips To Protect From Hackers, Virus, Spam, Spyware & Thieves.

Kaspersky Personal Security Suite

Like it or not, email has become an essential part of communication in the world today. We use it to work, we use it to socialize, and basically unless we have absolutely zero involvement in computers we can't run away from it. And that's fine because it truly is a great method of communication. Email is fast, free, easy to use and most importantly, it gets the message across.

Unfortunately email communication is not totally without security concerns. Did you know that email is also one of the most common routes for virus infection and fraud? Well it is and you need to learn about email security and also computer security to protect yourself from these kinds of threats.

Here are some tips on common concerns regarding email security and what you can do to address these security issues:

1. Viruses - Computer viruses often arrive in the form of email attachments. This is why you need to be careful when opening email attachments, even when it's from a known source. This is because some viruses are built to infiltrate address books and then send out infected e-mail to everyone listed. So it's very possible to receive a virus attack "originating" from someone you know. To protect your computer, you should have a reliable application scan every email attachment that you receive.

2. Phishing - Fraud is another email security concerns. One form of such fraud on the Internet is called 'phishing'. It tries to trick the recipient into disclosing personal financial information or passwords. These emails use logos of well-known institutions like banks or online retailers and ask you to update your password or financial information. They provide a link which looks legitimate but in reality directs you to a phony web site. Providing personal information leads to becoming the victim of credit card fraud or theft.

If you're alert, it's easy to tell if the email is a fake.

Take note of the subject line or content. If it's something along the lines of “Dear valued customer” instead of your name or if it's some variant of your name it's probably fake.

A link that doesn't correspond to the next describing it is another way to tell if the email is a fraud. This can be verified by checking the status bar when you highlight the link. If the text says something like "Microsoft", but the URL is "www.somebadplace.com" you know the message is not from the folks in Redmond , Washington.

No legitimate organization will ask you to verify your password or other sensitive data in an email. If you see something like this, you immediately know that the email is a fraud.

3. Email Data Backup - Like any other kind of data, email can (and should) be backed up. It's easy to do with most email programs, simply export the messages to a folder, then backup the folder with a backup program onto a removable disk, writeable CD or DVD or other media. If you like you can even get specialized backup software can be purchased at modest cost to backup emails directly, eliminating the export step. Backup programs can also be automated to occur at a convenient time without requiring further intervention.

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