There is only one way to stop spam: prevent it from getting your inbox in the first place. So you really need a IT support company to setup appropriate spam blockers that hide your email address as well as filter the junk box rather than just deleting it from inside your email client.

The 3 Main Things You Need to Know About Spam

Spam can actually be quite dangerous to your computer network. It is not merely just the occassional poker, porn, or pills based email that sneaks through. You need to worry about these possible events:

  1. People Spoofing (Pretending) to be from other email addresses - Spam technology now allows these people to trick you and hide the true origin of the email. They can even make it look like it came from your very own email address. Because of this, you need spam software that not only blocks INCOMING spam, but also OUTGOING - just in case they try to use their own network against you.
  2. Spam + Viruses Together - Using file types such as images and PDFs, spammers can disguse or hide the true type of file that is being shared via attachments.
  3. Phishing - These phising emails are the most dangerous of all because they try to convince you to hand over personal information. The spammer generates a very official email, often from an email address very similar to a well known brand/company (think: commmmonwealthbnk.com.au, gogggle.com, etc) getting you to hand over passwords and access details. Avoid these at all costs.

What you Need to do to Stop Spam

It is up to you and your IT support company to get your spam software solution up and running almost immediately to stop them coming in the first place.

After that, you need to make sure your email address doesn't end up on anymore spammer lists around the world. Here are a few steps you can follow:

  1. Get a Disposable, Free Email Address - So you have your personal and business email, go grab a free Gmail, Yahoo!Mail or Hotmail account to use when you have to sign up to services online so all the mail ends up there, unless you completely trust the website you are on.
  2. Always Check that You Haven't Opted-In - Some websites when you are registering with them opt you into their program immediately by having the tick box already on. Becareful and read the attached copy closely to make sure you opt out.
  3. Becareful where you post your email address - If you are signing up to blogs, forums, etc where there is a good chance your email address will be publicily displayed, make sure you use your free one, or go into the settings to make sure it doesn't appear by default.
  4. Never Respond to Spam - If you are on the list, and the spam is getting through your spam software, never ever open them or try to reply to them. That only just encourages more spam, and most opt-out buttons from these providers never work.

How NetCare Stops Spam

Historically, we have provided a number of different solutions to our clients to help them control spam, including software from Microsoft, Symantec, Trend and MailEssentials. Whilst these have done a good job in the past, we note that:

  1. They are all getting harder and harder to maintain
  2. Each of these programs are adding to the load on the server and are thus degrading overall server performance
  3. More often these days, updating anti-spam software means restarting the server, causing down-time and raising the risk of introducing a problem following a restart
  4. They all place suspected spam in one mailbox for all to say, potentially creating a data security threat for false-positive spam
  5. Newer solutions are now available that stop spam before it even gets into the network and onto the server and PCs.

So We Use Untangle Spam Blocker

Our Untangle Spam Blocker service is the best solution we’ve found for controlling spam. We install a gateway computer on the perimeter of your network – between your modem/router and your computers – and then we load Untangle Spam Blocker software on that.

Our monthly fee for Untangle Spam Blocker is $88 (including GST), regardless of the number of users or computers you have in your network, and our fixed-price set up fee is $352 (including GST). This includes the software and a fully maintained “Untangle black box gateway server”.

We’ve been using Untangle Spam Blocker ourselves since December 2008, and we love it. And the icing on the cake is that because you’re running it all on a gateway server, you’re also lessening the risk of your main server running slow, freezing up or crashing completely.

And, if over time you really find it’s no good, or we’re no good, or for ANY other reason, then simply let us know and we’ll cancel the service prior to the next billing with no questions asked.

If you need a cost-effective solution to control spam on your network, then NetCare Untangle is your silver bullet.

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