Small businesses should take no chances with spam
Mon, 10 May 2010
Computer users should immediately delete emails they suspect of being spam, Trend Micro has said.
Rik Ferguson, senior security advisor at the security software and services company Trend Micro, urged small business owners and other web subscribers to take no risks with their IT security.
He explained that some spam emails "contain active content which is being pulled from external websites".
Such messages have the potential to infect a recipient's computer when opened, Mr Ferguson said.
"If you look at the subject line and the subject line is clearly spam, then don't, even out of curiosity, go and read the email", he warned.
Mr Ferguson advised computer users not to "overshare" their email address to avoid receiving spam.
In an ideal world, they should avoid publishing it on any website, he commented.
"If you do have to write your email address down on a website somewhere, then try to write it out in letters rather than writing it exactly as your email address - it complicates processes for automated email harvest," Mr Ferguson said.
Research published earlier this year by the UK's consumer and competition regulator the Office of Fair Trading found that email is now the most common scam approach.
Posted by Alex Boardman
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