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 Warning! Bounceback E-mail Technique Used By Spammers Authenticated SMTP - What Is It And How Does It Help Me? Ask The Help Desk What Is A Keystroke Logger? Sites Of The Month Great Sites To Check Out In June Short Tutorial Deleting Bookmarked Favorites From Your Browser Ask Comporium This Month's Question And Answer |
Welcome, Comporium Internet Subscribers Summer is here — grab some lemonade, kick off your shoes, and enjoy reading this June issue. You'll learn about e-mail bouncebacks from spammers and why they're annoying but not necessarily harmful. You'll also find out about keystroke loggers and keylogging programs used to collect information from specific computer users. In the tutorial, get instructions on how to remove websites you no longer want in your bookmarked favorites. And don't miss the Great Sites section to pick up Web browsing ideas including a new movie about robots, a bird's eye view of the earth, and a preview of the Summer Olympics. The goal of each of our monthly eNewsletters is to keep our subscribers informed regarding their Internet connection and to improve their Internet experience. We think you'll find this information interesting. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, click here. To see what's inside this issue, simply scroll down the eNewsletter or click on the links within the index to the left. Thanks for reading! - The Comporium Internet Team |
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Warning! - Bounceback E-mail Technique Used By
Spammers
Have you
received an increasing number of e-mail bouncebacks (returned e-mails
marked "Non Delivery Receipt") in your inbox? If so, you're not alone.
Internet Service Providers worldwide are reporting more complaints from
customers who suddenly get dozens or hundreds of e-mails informing them
that "the message you have sent has failed." Most of the time, the
culprits are spammers that insert gathered or random e-mail addresses into
the "Sender" portion of their messages. Spammers like to spoof this
information in order to sneak their messages past e-mail filters. When
these e-mails are not deliverable, they may be returned to inboxes like
yours even though they didn't truly originate there. Referred to as
backscatter, such e-mail bouncebacks come from legitimate e-mail
servers that have been fooled by the spammers.
While these messages may appear troubling, receiving such e-mails does not necessarily point to a virus or spyware infection on your machine. There is likely nothing for you to worry about as long as you're using virus protection software and updating it routinely. Simply delete the messages and ignore the irritation until this latest technique falls out of favor with spammers. Again, it is very important that you have antivirus protection installed and updated to reduce your computer's vulnerability to attacks. Authenticated SMTP - What Is It And How Does It Help
Me?
The world is
increasingly more suspicious of incoming e-mail; so much so that
organizations spend millions of dollars inspecting whether e-mail messages
pose a threat to their organization. The practice of "Phishing", for
example, can solicit personal information from unsuspecting customers via
bogus e-mail inquiries. With Spam on the rise and illegitimate e-mail
propagating daily, Internet e-mail users find themselves caught in the
midst of a battle to get their e-mail delivered.
The challenge for the rest of us is to show that our e-mail doesn't pose a threat. One of the best methods to ensure that your e-mail messages appear legitimate is to enable "Authenticated SMTP". When a customer sends an e-mail message, they use a common e-mail protocol called SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol). Where "Authenticated SMTP" comes in handy is that a customer takes an extra step to automatically authenticate with their e-mail server by means of their username and password every time they send a message. This establishes an extra layer of security in the eyes of the rest of the world. A "legitimate" user from an established organization is more likely to be trusted by the rest of the world. If you're convinced that Authenticated SMTP is a good idea for you, here are some easy steps to setting it up in Outlook Express:
Ask The Help Desk - What Is A Keystroke
Logger?
Question: What is a keystroke logger and why would
one be used? I often come across the term while reading about computer
security.
Answer: A keystroke logger is a hardware device that collects each keystroke a user types on a specific computer's keyboard and saves it as text in its own miniature hard drive. Later, the person who installed the keystroke logger must return and physically remove the device in order to access the information gathered. By contrast, a keylogger program does not require physical access to the user's computer. Someone who wants to monitor activity on a particular computer can download it on purpose. It can also be downloaded unwittingly as spyware and executed as part of a rootkit (a collection of tools that enable administrator-level access to a computer) or Trojan horse (a program in which malicious code is contained inside apparently harmless programming or data). The keylogger program records each keystroke and uploads the information over the Internet periodically to whoever installed the program. Keylogging has legitimate purposes such as helping parents monitor their children's activities or allowing law enforcement agencies to obtain passwords or encryption keys used in crimes. However, spammers and identity thieves also use this technology to steal personal information. Sites Of The Month - Great Sites To Check Out In
June
Recipe for
Success
http://Pillsbury.com/BakeOff - There really are cookies that taste like a million bucks, and Carolyn Gurtz of Gaithersburg, MD bakes them. She was this year's $1 million grand prize winner in the Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest for her Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies. Get the recipe for them here, as well as the recipes for many other award-winning Bake-Off dishes. You can also sign up for free e-mail newsletters and print moneysaving coupons. Understanding Natural Disasters http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards - The world news has been filled recently with stories of natural disasters — the cyclone in Myanmar (Burma), the earthquake in China, a volcano eruption in Chili, and tornadoes, flooding, and wildfires in the U.S. To learn more about the causes and effects of these hazards, take a look at this site. It features NASA satellite imagery of the events along with explanations of the science involved. You'll also find links to related websites and articles about topics including fires, floods, severe storms, and volcanoes. Summer Olympic Games http://en.beijing2008.cn - Get ready for the splendor and excitement of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in August by visiting the official website now. You can familiarize yourself with all the sports and venues, tour the sites of the Beijing area including the Great Wall, and test your Olympic knowledge by taking the daily quiz. You can also take a close look at the unique medals made of gold and jade that the winning athletes will receive. Sightsee from Home http://earth.google.com - If you haven't tried Google Earth yet, you're missing a very cool online resource. Google Earth lets you "fly" anywhere on the globe and gain a bird's eye view of satellite imagery, maps, terrain, and 3D buildings. Type in an address, zip code, city, or state and Google Earth instantly takes you there. You can even swoop from outer space to street level and leap from one building top to another. The new Sky feature lets you view images of distant galaxies and nebulae from the Hubble Space Telescope. Just download the free Google Earth 4.3 software to use these features, and enjoy an around-the-world tour without spending a cent. Out-of-this-world Robots http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/wall-e - In theaters this month is the new computer-animated movie about a robot named Wall•E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class). The cosmic comedy is from writer-director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) and the creative geniuses at Pixar Animation Studios (Cars, Ratatouille). Don't miss this fun journey across the universe as Wall•E chases a sleek robot named EVE. In the meantime, check out the site for Build-A-Bot Games as well as the movie's trailers, Super Bowl commercial, and photo gallery. Short Tutorial - Deleting Bookmarked Favorites From Your
Browser
Over the years,
you've undoubtedly accumulated a long list of favorite websites stored
under the "Favorites" or "Bookmarks" feature of your browser. As your life
changes, however, you may find that some of these sites are no longer of
interest to you. It's easy to remove such sites from your list and
streamline your Internet searches.
To delete bookmarked favorites you no longer need or want, follow the steps below for your browser. Deleting Bookmarked Favorites When Using Internet Explorer 7 Browser and Windows XP SP2 Home Edition (if menu bar is visible)
Ask Comporium - This Month's Question And
Answer
This month's
question comes from Comporium Internet subscriber Sue B.
Question: I get emails quarantined in my Junk Mail box on that are not spam. How do I mark these addresses to be "acceptable"? Answer: Depending on the source, messages can be quarantined for different reasons. Comporium's spam filtering solution is multi-layered and performs multiple checks prior to quarantining a message. Messages can be quarantined for content, the reputation of the sending network, and for matching the pattern of a known spam message - as well as several other reasons. If a message from a known good sender is being blocked, their address needs to be added to the Approved Senders list. To add someone to the Approved Senders list, use the following instructions:
Remember that the Approved Senders list trumps the Blocked Senders list. Do you have a question about how something works or a Comporium service? If so, send them in! A question will be selected every month and will be answered in the monthly subscriber newsletter. To submit your question, send an e-mail to the Comporium E-LINKS Editor. The user who submits the selected question will receive a prize from the Comporium Prize Vault!
We hope you
found this newsletter to be informative. It's our way of keeping you
posted on the happenings here. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive
these bulletins on a monthly basis, click here. Thanks for your business! Best regards, e-LINKS Editor  Comporium Group 330 E. Black St. Rock Hill, SC 29730 Rock Hill: (803)-324-9011 Fort Mill: (803)-548-9011 Lancaster: (803)-283-9011 Heath Springs: (803)-283-9011 York: (803)-684-1012
(We have used
our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published
herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all
liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether
such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other
causes.) ©2008 Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc. Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this eNewsletter are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. |