- John W. DeSpirito – CEO, iSafeTECH

Our Computer Technology Age has offered us “computer users” another alternative to living a normal lifestyle.  Computers have transformed our lives from how we communicate, how we transact financially and how we obtain information.  The flip-side has become about losing our identity, personal information stolen, investing in new security software and bombarded with ads from people you don’t know.

The terms spam, malware, spyware, viruses, trojans, etc and etc are scary words used in our daily lives like we need to be prepared for a battle mission.  In recent news we have been warned about the Conficker Trojan Virus.  But most computer users are unaware that the virus has been known for months and the release of doom date was April 1st, 2009.  Business and home computer users around the globe spent countless dollars on security software in the days leading upto April Fool’s Day.  The US National media also advised us to turn off our computers before midnight, just to be safe.  The truth is the virus is alive and well and as the security experts create patches a new variant of the virus will be created.  Hear is a good article to continue reading at PC World.

Why Do I get Spam?

iSafeTECH has been offering email services for more than 4 years and we have seen our Spam traffic increase dramatically in the past year.  We have reported that 99% of our email traffic is Spam related and combatting this issue has become a full-time job.  We constantly battle Spam and Viruses on our systems by monitoring and upgrading our software filters daily.

Spam is unsolicited email or email messages that you did not intend to receive in your inbox.  When you register for a service or sign up for a newsletter, your address is stored and eventually sold to be used for sending advert messages.  You, as a conscious computer user, will state you have not signed up for anything.  Yes, you may be right but how did you get your email address to begin with?  Most people will forward their mail from many email accounts to one email client like Outlook or Thunderbird.  The mail will be combined with other email addresses that you may use for free services or online purchases or whatever your pleasure.

But I continue to click Remove Me from your email list?  The leading and most respected Spam fighter experts from the “Spamhaus Project” have concluded that by removing yourself from an email list will only advise the spammer that your email address is real and you are reading it regularly.  Please visit them to learn more.

“By sending back a ‘remove me’ opt-out request you are confirming to the spammer that your address is live, you are confirming that your ISP doesn’t use spam filters, you are confirming that you actually open and read spams, and that you follow the spammer’s instructions such as “click this to be removed”. You are the perfect candidate for more spam.”  the Spamhaus Project

It is also been noted that users clicking Spam will be directed to download software programs to their computers without their knowledge.  We now term this malware.  Malware is a little program that will run on your computer as a virus or a spyware program to monitor your online usage.  They will come in many forms from destroying data to using your computer as a gateway to send more information to other computers connected to the Internet.

If you feel that you are receiving Spam from a source that will not leave you alone, File a Complaint with the FTC.  A complaint form can be found here.

I have stated in the past and feel strongly that regulations need to be imposed on Internet usage.  It may be a form of Freedom of Speech, but the fact is the Internet is running most of our lives.