If you run a business and use email, spam will be a big problem for you. How you handle it can make a big difference in how well your workers do their jobs. Spam email has always been a bother, and it has gotten worse over the last few years. Spam email slows down servers and can use up storage space. It takes time to get rid of all the bad messages in your inbox. Email is the best way for viruses to get around.
Any business that wants to stay in business and be productive needs to have a plan to deal with email spam and viruses. By having policies and rules in place, you can limit the damage to your business.
How to avoid getting spam in your email:
If you have a business website, use a contact form that people can use to get in touch with you.
can complete. Some spammers use robots that look through web pages.
email addresses. This should be something that your web designer can help you with.
Use a free email or a "throwaway" email when signing up for forums, products, or services.
account like Yahoo or Hotmail.
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Be careful what boxes you check when signing up for deals, even though technically
not spam, you may get a lot of email offers you don't want.
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Don't answer a spam email. Doing so just lets the sender know that you're still alive.
account is still in use.
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If you post on newsgroups, you might want to use an email address that you won't use again.
or forums.
These steps might help cut down on spam, but if you have an old email address, you might want to change it or set up a spam filter. There are a number of anti-spam systems to choose from. You could buy spam-filtering software that runs on your PC, but it can be expensive, doesn't stop viruses, and isn't a good choice in a networked environment. Managing spam software on each machine individually is a waste of time.
If you don't have many technical skills, you can hire a hosted anti-spam and virus solution provider to filter your email spam for you. Service providers of spam filters put their spam and virus filters in data centres that have backup power and network connections. You will need to change your mail exchanger on your DNS servers so that it points to the spam filters provided by your service provider. Then, your email service provider will check it for spam and viruses. Then, they send your email to your mail server, leaving out any spam or viruses. This adds a few more layers of security. In the event of a network outage or server failure, your email is held and sent when the network or server is back up and running, minus any viruses or spam. Spam filter services also look for viruses. This adds another layer of protection to the anti-virus software that is already running on your network.
If you have the technical know-how to run the system, buying your own spam filter appliance is the most cost-effective option for a business with more than 100 email boxes. A spam appliance sits in front of your email server and stops viruses and spam from getting through. The price of the spam appliance will depend on how many users you have, how much mail you get, and how much space you need.
If you have a good plan for dealing with spam, it will no longer be a losing battle.
