Unwanted mail is a growing problem for personal and corporate e-mail accounts. Two common types of unwanted mail are spam and virus-containing e-mail. It is becoming more difficult to differentiate the two as the individuals creating these are creating e-mail messages that look like legitimate e-mail. In addition to wasting people’s time with unwanted e-mail, spam also wastes a lot of network resources and can be offensive to the recipient, confronting a recipient with unwanted material. The following article will discuss spam, non-virus e-mail.
How much spam does UNMC receive?
Did you know up to 50 percent of UNMC incoming Internet mail can be considered spam? In July, anti-spam service provider Brightmail said unsolicited bulk e-mail made up a whopping 36 percent of all e-mail sent over the Internet, up from 8 percent a year ago. Three e-mail providers say bulk e-mail could make up the majority of message traffic by the end of 2002. And market researcher Gartner says a 10,000-person company loses more than $13 million worth of productivity due to spam. See related story.
What is spam?
Electronic mail “spamming” refers to the practice of flooding the Internet with an unsolicited electronic mail addressed to hundreds or thousands of recipients, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it. It also has been called “junk e-mail.” Most spam is generally some sort of e-mail advertising for a product or service that is sent to a mailing list or newsgroup, but many people expand the definition to include any kind of unwanted messages.
Can UNMC stop Spam from appearing in our inboxes?
Without stopping all Internet mail it is impossible to stop spam mail. Obviously, stopping all Internet mail is not acceptable because many departments and individuals need to communicate with others throughout the world.
Another option is for individuals to create filters to delete e-mail that looks for specific text. This could, however, prevent some non-spam messages from being received if the message contains a word in the filter.
Why do I get spam mail and how do the culprits get my address?
E-mail spam lists are often created by scanning Usenet postings, stealing Internet mailing lists, or by searching the Web for addresses. The more Internet activity you participate in, the more likely you’ll end up in a spam list.
How do I recognize “spam?”
Junk e-mail can be cleverly disguised, making it difficult to distinguish from personal e-mail. Always check the sender’s name before opening mail. Quickly glance down the “From” column in your inbox to see who sent the message. What you’re looking for is e-mail from addresses you do not recognize.
You also can use the domain name to pick out spam mail. The domain is what appears after the @ symbol. For instance, I know that anyone with the domain name nysscpa.org is a member, and these messages I want to read, but any message from a domain like getrich.com is from no one I know. Once you get through cleaning out junk e-mail, you should be left with e-mail from the people you know. The only problem with this method is you may inadvertently delete a message from a long lost friend. This is a price most are willing to pay.
There are some subject lines that make it obvious that the message is spam, but spammers are being much more tricky. Messages containing subject lines with “free” or “hot” or “make money fast” are probably not from someone you know or want to know. Often messages without subject lines are also from spammers.
What should I do if I receive “spam?”
1. Delete the message. Think of it in the same context as throwing away the junk mail you receive at home.
2. DO NOT REPLY to the spam message. This can inadvertently cause all original addressees to receive the reply, causing another flood. Mailing lists can explode into thousands of recipients. Don’t react with more spam; you’re just intensifying the problem.
3. DO NOT respond to “instructions to remove me from the mailing list” unless it is from a well-known, reputable organization. Most often, this will result in a bounced (rejected) mail message to you. It may also result in hardening your address onto spam lists, as it serves as a confirmation that your account is active and the mail is being read. For advertising purposes, this makes your address more valuable.
4. Set up mail filtering rules in e-mail to automatically delete the mail or move it to a separate mail folder for reading later. Filtering the mail is particularly helpful if you are unlucky enough to receive offensive spam. In most instances, if you do not respond to the mail, it will stop in days, weeks, or up to a few months. Be patient, and it will eventually stop. Click on this link to get instructions on how to create Rules to delete unwanted mail in Lotus Notes.
5. We are most interested in reports of e-mail spam that originate from within the University, or that are offensive to you. If you choose to report the spam, you should forward it to itssecurity@unmc.edu. ITS will examine the message headers and take action if we can determine the source or relay site for the message. Please note that many times the source cannot be determined. It is possible that you will continue to receive the spam e-mail even if you have reported it.
Help reduce the spam!
Electronic mail spam is one of the unavoidable pitfalls of being on the Internet. It is almost impossible to prevent, because any user with an e-mail address can “spam” any other valid e-mail address or public electronic forum. The only foolproof prevention is to disconnect from the Internet. However, the suggestions below may help you “digest” Spam.
- Limit your personal/recreational use of the Internet from your University account.
Many web sites capture information about visitors without their knowledge, and then use it later for unsolicited advertising. Newsgroups will always have a record of users who post to them, which are relatively easy to obtain. Use your own personal account provided by your Internet provider, or create a free personal mail service from a service such as Hotmail.
- Be careful filling out Web forms and providing University E-mail address.
Filling out web forms and providing your real e-mail address is asking for junk e-mail. Many web sites require forms be completed before granting demo and freeware demos. Do not provide your University e-mail address on web forms unless you want to receive junk mail from the organization. If you really want to try a product, and the web form won’t let you proceed without an e-mail address, try entering a fake address such as postmaster@the-web-site.com.
If you register at Web sites or visit newsgroups or chat rooms during at-home usage, you may want to use a special e-mail address just for surfing the Web. Junk mailers gather information from these areas. Another option is to add text such as “no-spam” to your e-mail address (example: no-spam-jdoe@isp.com) when registering or visiting newsgroups or chat rooms.
- Set up a filter in your mail to delete (or send to another file folder) mail coming from outside of the University network.
Filtering out non-University mail will allow you to focus your e-mail reading time for University business. If you need to receive mail from off-campus, you may wish to set up more elaborate filtering rules. See this link for examples on creating filters in Lotus Notes. You can also get to the instructions by going here or go to the Helpdesk link on the Intranet, click on Lotus Notes Handouts and click on the link “Filtering out Spam and Junk Mail.
- In any case, if you are feeling threatened, report the activity to the Campus Security at 559-5111.
For more information regarding UNMC security issues, visit the Campus Security Web Site on the Intranet https://info.unmc.edu/Security.