90.7% of global email is spam (junk mail). Most spam is type annoying, but some are downright dangerous and can cause your computer becomes part of a botnet.
90.7% of all emails worldwide are spam. Hungary (95.7%), Denmark (94.9%) and Italy (94.7%) are the three countries that tops the list, the March report from Symantec.
Spam mail can often be divided into three categories:
1. Annoying spam mail
This is spam that contains advertising, everything from billing application to medicine, food supplements (pharma), etc. Also, 'newsletter' you never even have signed up to belong to the category 'Irritant'.
This form of spam is probably the most common and is probably the kind of spam that fills up the spam mail folder in your program.
2. Dangerous spam mail
Spam that tries to get you to disclose sensitive information. Username and password, for example, MSN and so-called "Nigerian Letter" with promises of large sums. As long as you do not bite the hook, does not constitute this type of spam any danger, but there are plenty of examples of people who allow themselves to fall for that.
3. The most dangerous spam
E-mail with malicious code (trojans etc), is the spam that can do really great damage.
E-mail with malicious code comes in the form of infected attachments. Files of type. Xls. Doc. Zip and. Pdf are the four most common file types, according to the report from Symantec. This malware is often linked to the botnet that Zeus and Koobface. With such infections on a computer can do everything you do on your computer to be mapped by a hacker.
E-mail can also contain links that take you to infected web sites where you are exposed to a fake antivirus program or div. exploits. In order to remove the imaginary infection, you must pay for the license application. With that, you have lost some money and provided credit card information to cyber criminals.
If you have first received spam, there is little we can do to prevent this then your email address is already circulating in spam circles. One can use different types of spam filters so that spam does not take up unnecessary time and irritation in that it ends up in your inbox. Have you for example. a Gmail address, so spam mail will go unnoticed in the spam folder. It may be wise in a while and check the spam folder if there is mail that should not be there. At worst, you may be forced to change email address.
Far more important is it then, therefore preventing that you get spam in the first place. It is therefore wise not to leave your email address on different web sites, chat sites, discussion forums and the like. If the need arises, there may be a good idea to have one or more e-mail account for such use. Gmail and Yahoo offer free accounts.
* Use anti-virus, anti spyware and firewall
* Delete any suspicious e-mail
* Do not reply to calls or follow the spam
* Restrict the spread of e-mail address
* Do not automatically reply in your e-mail program
* Hide the recipient address when writing to multiple people
* Do not forward chain letters
