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| Email | SpamGeneral'First Class' email is available to students and lecturers at the Open University. Other email services are available from Internet Service Providers. All email system can support file attachments. Each mail client system has its plus and minus points. Everybody will receive legitimate mail, spam mail and virus infected file attachments at some point or other. The key thing is to have your defences in good order. There are many programs available to process email, and if you want to, you can even include a digital certificate with your own emails so that your intended recipients can see that they are genuine. There's more on these aspects below. Anti-Virus system Malicious invitations and 'Phishing' Outlook ExpressMicrosoft has made substantial improvements to Outlook Express in Windows XP Service Pack 2. Earlier versions should have been patched and the security improved if you have kept up-to-date regularly with Windows Updates Default Setting for attachments in Outlook ExpressOutlook Express contains a default setting intended to protect your computer against infected email attachments. However, by default it may prevent you from opening any attachments at all. Provided that your anti-virus protection is fully up to date (and this may mean a daily check for updates), any infection in an email should be caught at source. there is always a possiblity that in viewing an email in a preview window, you can execute a malicious attachment unwittingly, even if you don't open it fully. You can unset the default protection against attachments in Outlook Express by un-checking the attachment protection option using the commands:
Preview pane in Outlook ExpressIt has been possible, in some earlier versions of Outlook Express, to launch a malicious program in the 'Preview' window without opening the message or an attachment. Later versions claim to have removed the vulnerability, but in general, although its useful, it's better not to use the 'Preview' window in the program. To enable and disable the preview pane you use the command:
The problem ought not to affect the Preview window in other mail programs such as 'Thunderbird' - see below for some alternative internet mail programs. Alternative EMail programsThere are very good alternative Mail programs available. However, you should bear in mind that any software may have a hidden flaw which might be exploited when and if the vulnerability is discovered. Not every program can be automatically updated by the maker in the way that the built-in Windows components are. No software is ever completely error free. These are the most popular and best supported. Each has a different procedure for setting the connections up - some may offer to import settings from another mail program already configured which makes the process of switching much easier.
First ClassAll Open University students and lecturers are able to use the 'First Class' Email system which is managed as a Corporate service. It is updated and protected centrally as required. Mail CertificatesYou can set up a 'Digital Certificate' in your own name which you can attach to messages to prove they come from you. This doesn't stop people pretending to be you and sending out spam in your name, but it may be useful for a close group of friends who want to be sure that messages they receive from each other are genuine. SPAMAbout 40% of email circulating on the Internet is SPAM - that is email you didn't ask for and don't want. Some of it represents an attempt to advertise legitimate products, but most is malicious. These sites explain more about the origin and operations of SPAM. Luring you to fake websitesSPAM can be designed with a 'socially engineered' message and a link to lure you to a malicious website. On visiting the site, a 'bot' may be planted on your machine to record everything you do - for example to capture keystrokes that you use when banking online. These are batched up and sent to a criminal group who use the details to pretend they are you - making illegal money transfers and purchases with your details. You might be lured to a fake website designed to look like the login page for your bank - it's very hard to tell the difference, though if you secondary-click a web page and review its full 'properties', you may find that it looks quite unlike the one you thought it ought to be. It may for example be a .org domain instead of the more appropriate .com. Subverting your computer as a relay for more SPAMSome SPAM messages contain hidden code which leaves your computer running apparently normally - but in fact acting as a mail and spam relay, and source of new spam. Such activity is designed to create 'herds' of 'Zombie' computers - which are managed by people known colloquially as 'Bot Herds'. They sell the details of compromised machines on to criminal gangs for use in their illegal activities. Reducing SPAMYou can subscribe to a variety of SPAM filter utilities which can reduce the number you receive - and which flag those that are detected so that you can ignore them or delete them automatically. Giving out your email addressIf you want to buy something online, you will have to give out your email address for the reply. If you subscribe to 'one of the services below, you can set up an 'alias' address just for that transaction - and delete it once you have completed it. If the address is ever harvested by a Spammer, it won't work. |
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