Spam is on the Rise: How to Protect Your Business

Advice on anti-spam IT solutions for small business.

Many people thought that once companies implemented spam solutions and started educating their users, spam would wind down and eventually be a non-event. Many people even speculated that spam solution companies would either consolidate or go out of business. However, this situation is far from reality. The truth? Spam is definitely on the rise.

Spam on the rise

In the last three months, spam has risen 73%, according to Postini. They also report that spam represents 93% of all email-- the highest ever recorded. Image spam and office document spam made up as much as 45% of all junk messages in the fourth quarter, up from less than five percent in 2005.

Spam is unlikely to stop

All Covered recently attended a discussion where CEO's of Barracuda Networks, Postini and Proofpoint were panelists. They all stated the spam is on a "hockey stick" rise and that companies should expect this trend to continue. Virus writers, in general, are motivated by silent or underground recognition of their clever work. Spammers, on the other hand, are motivated by money. If a miniscule percentage of people respond to any of the spammer's emails or offers, they still make a lot of money. So, the only way spammers will stop is if people stop clicking the links and buying from these companies. Given the nature of people, it is unlikely this behavior will stop.

What you can do

So, given these grim prospects, what can you do to protect your company or organization from the growing amount of spam attacks? The following suggestions come from a variety of sources including All Covered, Postini, and Proofpoint.

1. If you have no anti-spam solution, find one and deploy it. All Covered has Email Protection Service, which is powered by Postini. This service helps insulate your company's network from spam and virus attacks before messages ever reach an in-box.
2. Don't provide your email address unless absolutely necessary. Watch for check boxes in small type that automatically have you "opt-in" for 3rd party mailings or partner offers.
3. If possible, use "disposable" email addresses when signing up for one time events, when posting to blogs or unfamiliar websites. Use these like you would a virtual credit card number.
4. Never unsubscribe from spam messages. This action simply verifies that your email address is an active one. Valid businesses will adhere to your unsubscribe request, but if in doubt, don't unsubscribe, simply delete the spam or create a filter to delete the unwanted email.

Tips for All Covered's Email Protection Service

All Covered clients who are using Email Protection Service should also note the following during a spam attack:

• Increase your spam settings (5 is the highest)
• Ensure all users and distribution lists are included in your setup
• Review and update your Approved Senders List. Experience indicates that obsolete approved sender entries have an adverse impact on spam catch rates.
• You will likely see an increase in the raw number of spam messages you receive. This is because a constant catch rate applied to a larger traffic flow will yield a higher absolute number of misses.
• Spam variants often look the same to the untrained eye because spammers make very subtle changes in obscure parts of their messages to get-around anti-spam technologies. This is the fundamental reality that makes anti-spam management a highly specialized discipline.

Continue to educate users

No matter what solution you have in place, continue to educate your users on the simple actions they may take when they type in an email address on a form, paper application or anywhere else they're asked for an email address. Protect this as vigorously as you would other personal information. The alternative is the annoying junk mail and spam that interrupts your daily productivity.

How All Covered Can Help

If this is an issue for your business, All Covered provides backup consulting and services for small businesses nationwide.

• Call us: For a personal consultation, call our friendly sales team at 866-446-1133
• Email us: Use our contact form and we'll contact you within one business day.
• Free Newsletters: Use our Free IT Newsletters about IT issues facing small business
• Our services: All Covered Care
  Premium Coverage for Complete Network Management and Computer Support
• Learn more: Business Continuity Planning
  Planning for Business Continuity and Securing your Data