1. What is spam?
Spam is the popular term for unsolicited,
mass-mailed e-mail messages. This might
include, for example, marketing mail for
computer software, or a political newsletter
2. Is spam the same thing as a virus?
Not necessarily. Viruses are often sent
through "spam" methods -- mass-mailings
to lots of people. However, not all spam
contains viruses. Some contain scams (such
as the Nigerian money mail), advertisements
(for pornography, software, furniture --
you name it!) or political propoganda. Some
is sent simply to be annoying and may have
no meaningful content at all.
3. Why is S-Protect important for my
mailbox?
Today, spam is more than an annoyance to
most people. Network technicians hate spam
because it hogs crucial bandwidth required
to run their networks. Average computer
users eventually detest downloading their
email because of all the junk they receive.
It is therefore important for anyone to
avoid fraudulent, inappropriate and offensive
emails by utilizing an effective SPAM-Tagging
mechanism such as S-Protect.
4. What is SPAM-Tagging
and what is its purpose?
Email comes with "headers." Many mail programs,
by default, only show you headers such as
"To:", "From:", and "Subject.".
SPAM-Tagging means that some headers
are set up to indicate whether or not a
message is likely to be spam. In this case,
S-Protect tags possible spam by attaching
with the word 'SPAM' in the header.
The purpose of SPAM-Tagging is to allow
you to filter out all the possible spam
through your mail program. You can configure
your mail program so that, when mail comes
in, it is sorted according to whether or
not it's likely to be spam. Your mail program
does this sorting by looking at these headers
(it can see them even when you cannot),
and putting possible-spam mail into a separate
mail folder.
5. Why Spam-Tagging and not direct removal
of all the SPAM emails?
It is not advisable to remove all the emails
that are considered as spam as this may
caused some of the emails which may fall
into the SPAM category but actually NOT
SPAM to be removed.
6. Why do some non-SPAM emails fall into
the SPAM category?
This is because the server identifies SPAM
emails by its known SPAM charateristics
and the non-SPAM emails may have the charateristics
and reached the score which caused it to
be tagged as SPAM.
7. What is the benefit of SPAM-Tagging?
- The SPAM-Tagged emails can be filtered
into one folder.
- You will not lose your important emails.
- Better visual identification.
8. Can I keep my existing email address?
Yes. The spam filtering occurs transparently
and you will be able to use your existing
email address.
9. How did they get my e-mail address?
Unfortunately, spammers are getting cleverer.
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly how
people who send unsolicited email collect
addresses because there are so many techniques.
Many harvest addresses from Usenet postings
and web pages, by viewing mailing list archives,
or by buying them from companies that claim
to have the address owner's permission.
Once spammers have a collection of addresses,
sending the mail is easy.
10. What are the general principles of
avoiding spam?
VirusNoMore's S-Protect is an effective
and efficient way of filtering spam from
your mailbox, we do however, advise our
clients to practise the following:
Don't post your email address online.
Do not purchase spam-advertised products.
Do not reply to spam, instead, forward
spam to the Federal Trade Commission at
uce@ftc.gov.
11. Will the email scanning delay the
time of email delivery?
S-Protect scanning will only cause a delay
of 1 or 2 seconds in a normal message’s
normal delivery time. A very large message
will take a little longer.
12. Am I still in control of my e-mail?
Yes, you are in complete control at all
times. The service can be stopped at any
time and the detour restored to its original
destination. We can make this change or
it can be simply done, without our participation,
by your calling the company that hosts your
e-mail server and domain.
13. What if I have exceeded the maximum
scanned email per month?
You will still be receiving the emails.
We will send you a notification when you
are approaching your maximum limit.
14. Will VirusNoMore lose my mail?
No. You will receive all your emails, including
the SPAM-tagged emails (email subject containing
the word 'SPAM'), which will be conveniently
filtered through your POP email program
(please refer to Setting
Filters (Netscape, Outlook, Eudora)).
<<
Back to FAQ Menu
|