| Anti-Virus Safety
Effective protection from email viruses requires multiple lines of defense. Below are listed a number of measures that you can take to protect yourself and an explanation about how trouble arises.
Below is a list of all our Anti-Virus FAQs. Just click on appropriate link.
Use Anti-Virus
Email delivered Software Patches
Check For Security Updates
Email Hoaxes
Install Anti-Virus Software
Your Email Address Forged
Easypost Anti-Virus Updates
Email Headers
Additional Anti-Virus Advice
(If a link is not working please inform Easyspace Support)
Use Anti-Virus
Easypost accounts with Anti-Virus are automatically protected against all known email viruses. To find out if your account has Anti-Virus:
1. Login to Web Mail.
2. In the Shop under each email account you can check whether Anti Virus (AV) is installed.
Check For Security Updates
Some email viruses attempt to exploit security vulnerabilities in your computer's operating system and/or email software. For example, W32/Bugbear-B is an email virus that can infect an unpatched Microsoft Windows system without even being opened!
To check for the latest Windows security updates:
1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Choose the Tools menu.
3. Choose Windows Update.
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to run Windows Update.
(We recommend that you run Windows Update at least once a week.
To check for the latest Mac OS X security updates:
1. Open System Preferences.
2. Choose Software Update.
3. Choose Check Now.
Install Anti-Virus Software
Easypost can protect your email account against viruses; however, it is up to you to protect the rest of your system from infection from other sources. Computer viruses can be transmitted via any means that any other software is transmitted, including: P2P (e.g. Kazaa), HTTP (websites), IM (instant messaging), chat (e.g. IRC), FTP, CD, DVD, flash media (e.g. Memory Stick), floppy disks, PDAs (e.g. PocketPC), cell phones, and more.
Easypost recommends Sophos Anti-Virus for your computer. Sophos is a leader in the anti-virus industry, and their software features the ability to automatically update itself to stay effective against the latest virus threats.
Easypost Anti-Virus Updates
Easypost Anti-Virus virus definitions are automatically updated at least every hour (without any system interruption) to protect against the latest virus threats.
Additional Anti-Virus Advice
* Don't open strange file attachments, especially those with filename suffixes such as: .dat, .dll, .exe, .ini, .pif, .scr, .vbs, and .zip.
* Avoid high risk activities such as downloading music and software (\"warez\") illegally.
* Use common sense.
* See also: Email Safety Tips.
Email delivered Software Patches
Do not trust software patches delivered via email.
Many email viruses trick users by claiming to be an important software \"patch\" or update.
Major software vendors such as Microsoft and Apple do not distribute software updates via email.
Furthermore, major software vendors such as Microsoft and Apple maintain official security announcement lists whose messages are signed with their PGP key to validate that the message is most likely authentic.
Microsoft
Windows Update
Product Security Notification Apple
Software Updates
Security Notifications CERT Coordination Center
Vulnerabilities, Incidents & Fixes
Email Hoaxes
Don't fall for an email hoax! Both Sophos and the United States CIAC track the latest Internet hoaxes and chain letters propagated by email. Remember: When in Doubt, Don't Send It Out.
Your Email Address Forged
Many email viruses spread by sending themselves to email addresses harvested from computers that they have infected. The most successful email viruses also forge the sender email address, often using the harvested email addresses randomly to hide their origin.
The result is that you may receive an undeliverable or \"bounced\" message that you never sent. You may also receive messages from email servers and humans that erroneously accuse you of spreading viruses because they were not proficient enough to recognize that your email address was harvested by an email virus on a different system.
If you follow our Anti-Virus Safety Tips, you can be confident that your computer is protected from all known viruses, and that such claims are most likely without merit.
Unfortunately it is very easy for people to set themselves up to appear to be sending out email in the name of others. Spammers hide their true identity this way. Spammer's will use:
* Messages from an unregistered system (one with no DNS entry or an incorrect one)
* Messages with invalid From: or To: addresses (disguising the sender)
* Messages from a valid but unreplyable address (disguising the sender, avoids any complaining replies)
* Messages from a faked but valid address - spoofing or masquerading (george.bush@whitehouse.gov)
* Messages from known offenders - ones registered in the spammer blacklists
* Messages with long lists of recipients
* Very large messages
Spammers generally aren't interested in any form of e-mail reply. They just want people to follow the Web link or alternative e-mail address within the message.
Blacklists:
The Mail Abuse Prevention System http://www.mail-abuse.org/ (MAPS) hosts one of the most widely-user blacklist services. The actual list is known as the MAPS Realtime Blackhole List http://www.mail-abuse.org/rbl (RBL)
Email Headers
In most cases, you can identify the source of an email from its headers, they can be found as follows:
Outlook - How to find the headers
* Open the email
* Click Views
* Click Options and view
Eudora - How to find the headers
* Open the email
* Click the 'blah,blah' button at the top left and view
For more information about email headers please visit
* http://www.stopspam.org/email/headers.html or try
* http://www.visualware.com/training/email.html
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