Q: Why can't I see any addresses in the To... field?
A: The sender is conforming to the correct Internet e-mail etiquette by placing all the addressees in the Bcc... field. Apart from the obvious courtesy of not displaying the e-mail address for everyone to see without their permission, it removes the security risk whereby an infected machine can be used as an e-mail relay spammer. It is also common to place the sender's address in the To... field because some spam interceptor programs will reject anything without an address in the To... field.
| Q: What can I do about Spam? |  |
A: The best place to stop SPAM is at the entry point of the mail server. The reason for this is that the SPAM is rejected outright and there is half a chance that the address will be removed, although I suspect that this has the half of uranium-234. At least you have the satisfaction of knowing the Spammer's attempt failed. Alas, I have yet to see a decent SPAM filter from an ISP simply because they use a simple Bayesian spam filter and you find that the remote server that sends you a daily e-mail telling you what shape it is in, gets treated as SPAM. The best technique I have devised is giving each organisation their own e-mail address. Obviously this is not for everyone since you must have control over your own domain and its e-mail addresses. However, this makes it easy to identify them, when they have sold it (and they do, despite what they say), when they have an infected machine that is being used as a relay, and , best of all, it is easy to cancel. It is important to back this up by creating a corresponding sending account, if needed. (This will covered in a future article).
The next solution is passive in an active kind of way. If you have Outlook you can use the IMF (simply type in Intelligent Message Filter in Outlook Help or check out the article at How Outlook 2003 Helps Block Junk E-Mail Messages. The e-mail still gets through but it is disposed of as you see fit. This works surprising well and continues to improve. Don't forget that all SPAM that gets through adds to your download quota. If Outlook IMF doesn't serve you well enough, there is another alternative called SpamBayes.
Unfortunately, once your e-mail address has been released to the wild there is very little you can do to redeem the situation. If you are intent on keeping the e-mail address, you have very little choice. The only effective solution is a program that asks for confirmation of sender's e-mail address before delivery such as ASK. Whilst this can be tedious for the sender and has since fallen out of favour as being almost rude, it is, however, very effective.
| Q: How do I secure my e-mail? |  |
A: There is a rather elegant way built into Microsoft Outlook.
This involves using a digital ID or certificate. Fortunately one is
available for free for personal use at
Comodo. There is also a good explanation of how to implement it -
How Users Manage Cryptographic Digital IDs in Outlook 2003.
Businesses can purchase certificates at a very reasonable price.
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