Internet Safety: Malware

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Spyware
3. Adware
4. Key Loggers
5. Rogue Diallers
6. DoS Attack
7. Spam
   1. How Spammers Work
   2. Spam Filters
   3. Mass E-Mails
   4. Anti-Spam Software
   5. Spam Quiz 1
   6. Spam Quiz 2

Mass E-Mails

Mass e-mails are spam and come in the disguise of chain letters, charity cases and lucky proverbs to name a few. These are also known as group and chain e-mails. They usually have so many addresses on them that you have to scroll down to see the message. This is caused by the fact that the message will encourage you to forward the e-mail to a specific and high number of people, sometimes threatening you with bad luck or promising to make donations to a charity each time the message is sent. This is an ideal way for spammers to get addresses as the e-mail starts to multiply over and over. Remember, if the e-mail has an attachment and you forward it to your friends, you could be infecting their computer with a virus if they open it.

You will notice an input box near the 'to' field when composing an e-mail, called 'Bcc'. This stands for 'Blind Carbon Copy'. When you enter more than one address into the 'to' field, you are creating a group e-mail. If you are sending a group e-mail, put only one addressee in the 'to' field and the rest of the addresses in the 'Bcc' section to keep them hidden from spammers.

Next: Anti-Spam Software