EMAIL SETUP, SPAM FILTERING AND PHISHING PROTECTION IN KING, NC
Creating Ease of Use w/ Enhanced Security and Spam Filtering
E-mail has a long history associated with it, in fact email has existed since the 1960's. At first it was used to only communicate with other terminals within the same network and both users had to be logged on. When the Internet or World Wide Web came to be, it allowed individuals to communicate across the world using Mail Servers. In the days of AOL during the 1990's it was used by families to stay in touch. Fast Forward to the 21st Century and Email is used for almost everything. Including messages from your doctor with test results or appointment reminders, Online Retailers sending sales promotions or sending that photo to Grandma of your newborn child. Emailing to stay in touch with family and friends has been somewhat replaced by Social Media today but it has a vital role to play. That is once you get past all the issues of Spam, Email Spoofing and syncing your Emails between the multitude of devices we use today.
COMMON KINDS OF EMAIL SERVICES
PERFORMED IN STOKES COUNTY, NC
WEB MAIL
Web Mail is the most common method individuals access their personal email. It requires little configuration and can be accessed by simply opening an Internet Browser, visiting a website and entering the user name and password. Their are some downsides to web mail including ads, no access when Internet is down, lack of layout customization and no backup if the web server has a failure or is compromised. Examples include AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, iCloud and Yahoo.
EMAIL CLIENT
An Email Client is an installed application on a computer that is configured to send and receive email messages. Many popular email clients today offer integration with Contact Lists, Calendars, Chat Features and integration with third party tools like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software. An Email Client provides added security with encryption options and the ability to make local backups of sent and received messages. Examples include Microsoft Outlook and Apple Mail.
SPAM FILTERING
The biggest complaint we hear from individuals and businesses a like is the abundance of spam. In fact a study from 2004 found that users spend on average 3 minutes per day deleting spam emails... resulting in a loss of productivity of 21.6 billion dollars per year in the USA alone. That study only analyzed spam in a commercial setting. How many hours do you spend sifting through spam? I'm sure its more than 3 minutes a day.
CALENDAR SYNCING
Our Calendar allows us to keep up with our schedule. Providing insight on personal events, training at work and what time our kids soccer game is. Having your calendar sync across multiple platforms and devices insures those days of double booking don't happen again.
CONTACT SYNCING
Our Address Book is where we keep contact information for people we communicate with. It allows information like Name, Home Address, Work Email and Mobile Number to be stored. I mean you could use a Rolodex but who wants to carry that around? Depending on the email service(s) you're using and your current device and software configuration can make this super easy or really frustrating. No matter your setup a knowledgeable technician can get this fixed.
ATTACHMENTS
When sending or receiving messages with attachments you will often see that little icon of a paper clip. Knowing the differences in attachment types and file extensions is the most important thing to keep users safe. Remember NEVER open an attachment from an unknown sender. Even then air on the side of caution and make sure the sender isn't spoofing an address. It is very easy for someone to send a message to you and have it look like it came from Apple regarding your iCloud Account. Check the sender information and make sure the reply address is correct, "support@aple-mail.com" for instance is a spoofed address where it should be "support@apple.com".
INBOX SIZE
Today most people don't have to worry about their Inbox getting full. That is if you're using an e-mail service provided by Google, Apple or Microsoft. Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) still only provide their customers with a 200 MB Inbox for free with additional storage being provided for a price. This is fine for most people receiving text only messages. When you start receiving e-mails with large attachments, images or videos... users can get in trouble.
ANTI VIRUS SCANNING
Most Web Mail Interfaces provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) do not include intelligent anti-virus or anti-malware scanning. So opening that attachment from a Nigerian Prince can be a big mistake. However big name companies like Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo and Gmail either offer their own in house scanning utility or have partnered with an Anti-Virus Company like Norton that will block malicious emails from even appearing in your Inbox. In some cases you will receive a notice stating you should be cautious about opening the e-mail.
With an E-mail Client installed on your computer or mobile device, you can configure almost all Anti-Virus Software to intelligently scan your incoming and outgoing emails. This not only protects you and your device but also individuals who will be receiving messages from you.
POP3, IMAP, SMTP... SERVERS AND PORTS
When it comes to setting up an e-mail client most Applications like Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird keep the guess work to a minimum by automatically entering the right servers, ports and encryption settings for common e-mail providers. However these settings may not be the best choice for security, encryption or use case. Speaking with someone knowledgeable about these settings will insure you're up and running correctly.