Protect Your Inbox From Harmful E-mails

• Anti-phishing.
As previously mentioned, phishing is the term used to describe an e-mail that appears to be a legitimate correspondence from a bank, e-commerce site, or other institution but is, in reality, a scam. A phishing e-mail is designed to fool you into providing criminals your credit card number, bank account password, or other sensitive information. Some Internet security suites provide anti-phishing protection. For an example of a phishing e-mail, see “TK” in this document.


• Spam blocking. 
Junk e-mail, nicknamed spam, fills up your inbox with commercial offers that are dubious at best, fraudulent at worst. If you haven’t received an unsolicited e-mail offering cheap mortgage refinancing, Viagra without a doctor’s prescription, or replica Rolex watches, you haven’t spent much time online. Even worse, spam content is often pornographic. A fall 2005 Consumer Reports survey of its readers found that over 2 million children nationwide had been inadvertently exposed to pornographic spam. Spam blocking or filtering tools are fairly standard now in Internet security suites and e-mail applications. Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) also offer customers some level of spam blocking.




• Identity and privacy protection.
 Identity theft is a growing problem on the Internet, and your privacy is constantly at stake online because of targeted pop-up ads, cookies that track your Web surfing habits, hackers that attempt to get your PC to transmit your personal data to them, and more. The best PC firewall programs and Internet security suites offer ID and privacy protection controls that protect you from these threats.


• Instant messaging (IM) protection.
 Though seemingly private, IM sessions are vulnerable to hackers, spammers, and online predators. If you or your children use instant messaging, make sure you have IM protection from an Internet security suite or other means.


• Protection from inappropriate content.
 Aside from spam, teenagers and children are frequently exposed to lewd, objectionable, or inappropriate Web content. Just as some cable and satellite systems allow parents to block certain TV channels, some filtering software programs allows you to block Web pages