Like many people who search the Internet, send E-mail or work online, I’ve occasionally been the target of SPAM and viruses. Over the years, I’ve found an easy way to help cut down on the SPAM attacks and viral volleys. Let’s cut to the chase – if an e-mail address is visible, it can be “mined” from a server or from the address book of a computer that’s been hit with the kind of virus that copies all e-mail addresses, replicates itself and then mails its offspring to those addresses. When you receive the E-mail, the From: address may be that of a friend – unaware their computer was infected. The number one way to prevent this is to BCC: [blind carbon copy] your recipients. Servers won’t “see” these addresses *and* when the e-mail arrives, none of the addresses will be deposited onto your friends’ computers. Many E-mail programs save or collect E-mail addresses, whether you record them as a separate address in your address book or not. Try this way of sending E-mail for awhile and tell your friends – particularly the ones who send all their friends and family members E-mail addresses in the To: or CC: fields. In the case of SPAM, it may not harm your computer, but it’s cyber junk mail. It’s up to you if you want to encourage it or not.
For some folks, not only are the SPAM/virus attacks an issue, privacy is, too. They don’t want their e-mail address popping up in unknown e-mail boxes or such public meeting sites like Facebook. One sure way to discover what’s been in your E-mail “collection” bin – and the E-mail accounts of your friends and family, as well – is to join Facebook. Talk about an E-mail address miner! You’ll see “potential” friends pop up that you haven’t a clue as to who they are. Your best guess is that they were on the To: or CC: E-mail list that was attached to an e-mail from one of your friends or family.
To wrap up, whether you’re concerned about privacy or not, viruses are a big deal. Occasionally, even with a current update of Norton AnitVirus or McAfee, a virus or trojan, et al will sneak in and cause trouble in the chicken coop. Aside from not opening any attachment from anyone you don’t know – and even those people you DO know – hiding E-mail addresses in the BCC: field will make it more difficult for the buggers to spread. Do your part and remind your friends, colleagues and family.
