Jeff Kozel,
VISI:
612.395.9090
www.visi.com
How to protect
network from
spammers’ deluge
THOUGH SPAM can be entertaining in the context of a Monty Python show, at the workplace it’s a growing drain on employee productivity.
Industry experts believe that up to 85 percent of all e-mail messages is spam. Just since October 2007, the amount of spam globally has increased by 280 percent, according to Internet security firm Marshal Security, and spammers are using more sophisticated technology to make it harder for your filters to detect their schemes.
What may surprise you, however, is that your company’s computers are not only on the receiving end of these annoying messages – they may be the source of them if you don’t take the proper precautions.
No computer really stands alone if it’s connected to the Internet. Spammers take advantage of this accessibility by creating botnets, groups of individual computers that have been compromised by a virus.
Spammers harness the power of these botnets – they can comprise hundreds of thousands of computers – to send messages to their vast mailing lists. Unbeknownst to you, the virus allows spammers to capture your computer’s IP address (a unique number that computers use to identify and communicate with one another) and slap it on their pleas for money or promises of sexual prowess.
To put it another way, spammers can steal your computer’s electronic identity and pin the blame for all that spam on you.
About one-third of all Minnesota computers have become slaves to the botnet machine, and most of those computers’ users had no clue. Being an unwitting spammer comes with risks. Your Internet service provider could cancel your contract if it determines that your computer is a source of spam. With the right software, spammers can also obtain personal data, such as credit card numbers, passwords and medical information from your computer, putting you and your employees at risk for identity theft.
So what can you do to safeguard your business’s computer network and stay one step ahead of spammers? Spam protection doesn’t have to be time-consuming or costly, but it is vital to be thorough about installing the necessary hardware and software and developing a smart security protocol for all employees to follow.
Firewalls a must
Install a hardware firewall for your entire business network. A hardware firewall is your first line of defense in protecting your network from intruders. It is often integrated into your broadband router (a device that directs incoming data to the appropriate PC) or may be a separate network device.
Your IT director or consultant can determine your needs, and set up rules, such as acceptable sources and IP addresses, and the information, which travels as a “packet” of data, must meet those criteria in order to pass through the firewall to you.
Install a software firewall on each computer on your network. Though some experts may say this step isn’t necessary if you already have the hardware firewall, installing a software firewall on each computer gives you an extra layer of protection against spammers.
These firewalls are configured to allow only the applications you choose to connect to the Internet, reducing your computer’s vulnerability to the viruses that spammers set loose. If a virus makes it through your network’s hardware firewall, each computer has another weapon in its arsenal to stop the infected message from wreaking havoc.
Install anti-virus software on each computer on your network. In case those pesky spammers penetrate both the hardware and software firewalls, anti-virus software should be there to save the day. It works by identifying and neutralizing malicious software from accessing the data on your company’s computers.
Though it must be installed on each computer individually, it can often be managed centrally, making it easy for your information technology director to monitor the activity.
Limit what your employees can do with their computers. Request that they don’t attach USB or other external data devices to computers on your network so they cannot inadvertently introduce a virus from their home computers.
If your employees ever log onto your network remotely, allow them to do so only with company-issued laptops. Keep your network as isolated as possible to prevent infection.
Educate your employees on how to use their computers intelligently. The best way to prevent your computer from becoming a “zombie” (compromised by a spammer) is to make a few simple changes in your e-mail preferences:
- Disable Java and other scripting language in your e-mail software.
- Set your e-mail messages to be displayed as text only, not HTML.
- Disable the remote links that appear in e-mail messages.
- Don’t use the preview pane feature. A virus embedded in a message can infect your computer just by viewing the message in the preview pane. Your employees should also avoid installing unauthorized software and downloading copyrighted material, such as bootleg versions of movies or illegally ripped music files, onto their work computers.
Separation helps
Maintain separate e-mail accounts for work and pleasure. Establish a company policy that employees are to use their work e-mail addresses only for work-related correspondence. Ideally, you should have several e-mail addresses ? one for work, one for personal use, one for Internet shopping and one for social media sites, like Facebook.
Using throwaway e-mail addresses for Web transactions and interactions makes it less likely that your valuable work and personal accounts will be compromised.
Take precautions with your company’s Web site. If your Web site lists employee e-mail addresses, they are likely to be captured by a spammer using special software to sweep the Web for e-mail addresses. The addresses are then added to the spammer’s mailing list, and you and your employees get inundated with unwelcome e-mail.
A better alternative is to create a mailback form on your Web site’s “Contact Us” page. This standardized form can be configured with the fields you select (name, phone number, e-mail address, and so on), and when visitors to your Web site complete the form, the information is forwarded to the appropriate contact at your business.
Though the amount of spam is increasing at an astounding rate, your business doesn’t have to succumb to the deluge. With the proper security protocol, you and your employees can reduce your risk of getting sucked into the spamming whirlpool.
