EMail Safe Practices

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E-Mail Safe Practices

• Bryan Alexander
• Region 9 Education Service District
• January 2008 Staff In-Service

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E-Mail Safe Practices

• Spam
• Phishing
• Attachments
• Resources

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SpamNot From The Can

• Unsolicited e-mail
• Includes solicited but un-responsive
• 80 of e-mails in world are spam
• Hotmail blocks 3.2 billion/day
• 91 of ESD filtered messages
• Between Sept. 2007 and today
• 4,620,805 total e-mails
• 404,136 allowed through

New Zealand Dept. of Consumer Affairs
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SpamHow To Avoid

• Dont use your primary e-mail address online
• If you must give your e-mail address to an
  unknown organization, look for check boxes
• Use a separate e-mail address for posting to
  newsgroups, bulletin boards, etc.

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SpamHow To Avoid

• Use an e-mail address thats hard to guess (by
  spammers)
• Dont respond to e-mail from an unrecognized
  sourceeven to unsubscribe
• Check terms and conditions when giving out
  personal info
• Applies to cell phones too..

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What is Phishing?

• E-Mail falsely claiming to be a legitimate
  enterprise
• Though can come through phone calls--rare
• Attempts to scam the receiver into providing
  information
• Intention is identity theft
• Directs person to to visit a bogus website or
  phone number to provide information

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They Want Your Information

• What are they looking for?
• Usernames/password
• Credit card info
• Social Security Number
• Bank account information
• Anything that can lead them to your

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How They Trick People

• Links to a website in the e-mail
• May be fuzzy where a letter is changedtricks
  the eye
• http//www.paypal.com
• http//www.paypa1.com
• http//www.paypai.com
• http//www.paypal.com
• http//www.paypa1.com

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How They Trick People cont.

• Trick to eye and browser
• http//www.paypal.com_at_www.steal.ch
• Browser reads to go to www.ibm.com
• One of the first methods-affected by older
  browsers
• Link displayed may be different than actual
• Ex. Displays www.paypal.com, but takes you to
  www.steal.ch

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What To Look For

• Link to website fake
• Not sent to your address
• No personalized information in the body
• Account numbers, name, etc-and is correct?
• No greeting with your name
• The link isnt a secure one (https//...)
• Bad grammar / punctuation

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How To Avoid Getting Taken

• Check links
• Right-click link, choose properties
• Better yet type in the address you know is
  corrector the main address
• e-Mail from Chase bank may saychasefraudwatch.co
  mis really a Chase site?

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How To Avoid Getting Taken

• Best thing is call number from your bill or main
  website
• Dont necessarily trust phone number in e-Mail
• Beware of calls asking for personal information
• Same goes for ESD information

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Attachments

• Common source of viruses
• Can be very dangerous
• Easily passed on
• Some e-Mail programs automatically open

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How To Protect Yourself

• Be suspicious of unsolicited e-Mails
• From strangers
• From friends/family
• Could come from infected machine or spoofed
• Check with them first

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How To Protect Yourself Cont.

• From vendors / Internet Provider
• Beware of Patches, etc from Microsoft
• Software from Internet Provider such as spyware,
  anti-virus etc
• ISPs and Vendors dont send patches through
  e-Mails

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How To Protect Yourself Cont.

• Can always scan file with anti-virus program
• Save program to desktop
• Manually scan the file with your anti-virus
  software
• Always make sure you have the latest anti-virus
  updates first!
• Viruses can still slip by this, so beware!

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Resources

• US Cert website
• United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team
• General Security Tips
• http//www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/
• SonicWall Phishing Test
• http//www.sonicwall.com/phishing/

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Resources Cont.

• eBay has some great information
• http//pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/deterring_ide
  ntity_theft.html
• http//pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/stop_spoof_we
  bsites.html
• FTC Spam Resources
• http//www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/consume
  r.htm