Technical corner

Stop SPAM!

Spam is any unwanted & unsolicited email. There are new laws against sending commercial spam or mass-mailings of any kind. However, most spam continues to be sent with impunity. Here is how to stop it.

1. Never open spam. Spam might also contain viruses, or spy-ware designed to detect whether the spam has arrived at a valid address. If you open it, prepare to be flooded.

2. Never respond to spam. Do not trust the "click here to be removed" links. This will only tell the spammers that your address is valid.

3. Have you ever received an email that included a page of other email addresses? Spammers can harvest those email addresses. If you send email to a large group, place the addresses in the BCC: field. Blind-CC hides the email from other users. BCC is normally a hidden field. In your "Compose" window, change the "View" to "All headers."

4. Never respond or forward a chain letter. Even though you received it from a friend and send it to your friends, eventually it passes through a computer with spam harvesting software.

5. On your webpages, do not include complete email addresses. List addresses such as [user at domain dot com] or download our nospam JavaScript.

The following pages have been developed to assist staff of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism and Prairie Centre for Ecumenism. In addition, we hope that they will be helpful for our information partners to learn more about internet security issues and the development of webpages. If they are also helpful for others on the web, please feel free to explore. Comments or corrections would be appreciated.

Security

"Email security, viruses and worms"
"Captain, We're being probed!" by McAfee.com
"How to protect your computer", tips on using antiviral software and firewalls.
Virus Hoaxes
"There are a lot of viruses out there. But some aren't really out there at all. Virus hoaxes are more than mere annoyances, as they may lead some users to routinely ignore all virus warning messages, leaving them vulnerable to a genuine, destructive virus. Next time you receive an urgent virus warning message, be sure to check the list of known virus hoaxes [at McAfee.com]. Remember: Never open an email attachment unless you know what it is—even if it's from someone you know and trust. Remember that virus writers can use known hoaxes to their advantage. For example, AOL4FREE began as a hoax virus warning. Then somebody distributed a destructive trojan attached to the original hoax virus warning! The lessons are clear: Always remain vigilant and never open a suspicious attachment."

Webpage development

Email configuration

Mozilla Thunderbird - This is the email product that we are recommending. It is easy to use and has more features and functions than any other email service available. Mozilla is an open source project, free for all users. A good online introduction is provided Nidelven IT. Thunderbird is available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.
Netscape Communicator - for those who are still using the old Netscape Communicator. Netscape now uses a version of Mozilla that integrates some of Thunderbird's features, but not all.
Outlook Express - still the free email service provided by Microsoft, Outlook Express is better than Outlook, the licensed product Microsoft provides with the Office suite. Outlook Express only works with Windows.