INTERNET TIPS   

  Is your primary mailbox getting overrun with SPAM?

Create separate e-mail accounts for your orders and subscriptions. Most SPAM is generated through sites where you've ordered something from or have joined a newsgroup or subscription, who have sold your e-mail address to a third party. If you read the fine print, you'll discover that by signing up with them, your e-mail address is considered fair game! Sharing your primary e-mail just with those trusted friends and colleagues will help minimize those pesky spammers.

Latest versions of Outlook incorporate a "Junk E-mail" filtering function. Highly suspected potential "junk" mail is put into a separate "Junk E-mail" folder for you to go through and clean out at your leisure. You can then decide who you want to allow into your Inbox. It won't catch them all, but it'll help by lessening the amount of mail in your Inbox.

  Minimize your risk for viruses. Safeguard your computer from malicious attacks.

Worms and viruses are malicious programs that attack your computer. While they both enter computers through the same methods, they act differently once they’re in. Both can damage or even destroy your computer by conflicting with existing programs, slowing your system and crippling your Internet connection.

Both programs enter your computer via e-mail, instant messaging, downloaded flies from the Internet (including music flies), pop-up ads, CDs and floppy disks. A virus spreads when you forward an infected fiIe such as a Microsoft Word document or a greeting card, to another person. Worms however, are self-propagating. They can find your electronic address book and then send themselves to addresses in the book.

Both can be very difficult to eradicate, and it's best to prevent them from entering in the first place. Here are a few ways to help protect your system:

• Install a firewall - Your first weapon should be a firewall. A firewall will allow only authorized programs to enter and exit your computer. Newer versions of Windows have this protection built in. But any firewall is better than none. Firewalls come with many commercial security programs. Also, you can download a firewall at ZoneAlarm, www.zonelabs.com, under “Home Office products” for free.
• Add anti-virus software - install anti-virus software with an update subscription. Off-the-shelf anti-virus programs, such as Norton Anti-Virus or McAfee VirusScan, automatically remove the bad guys. Their made-for-beginners instructions also show you how to quickly quarantine, then delete corrupted files. The software can also be set to automatically updates when you’re online. Typically, virus definition updates are made once a week and a small icon pops up to inform you that updates are complete
• Think before opening e-mail - Anti-virus software often takes time to catch up to the latest culprits. So make it a habit to be highly selective when opening e-mail. Never open attachments you are not expecting. Delete e-mails from unfamiliar sources.
• Set your default browser page to a safe site - Set your browser to "blank" or to a site that has no embedded ads or pop-ups. Use care when closing the pop-ups you do get! Creators are getting tricky by embedding a window within a window so you may inadvertently click on the image instead of the actual window and execute the pop-up. 
• Other tools - Other weapons include ad-ware scanners that remove hacker tools and "spy-ware cookies" that allow outsiders to track your online moves.
• Turn on the Auto-Update functions on operating systems such as Microsoft Windows and Office XP to make sure their patches are up-to-date. The latest version of Internet Explorer has a built-in pop-up blocker - another reason to keep your system updated!
• Be up front with your friends - Let them know you are not interested in being on a mailing list for forwards of those e-mails that instruct you to "share this message with all your friends!..." If you want to keep in touch, have them send a quick, personal e-mail note to let you know that they're doing fine.

  Protect yourself from internet fraud and identity theft!

Make sure you know who you're connecting to! Use caution when you click on a site link in an e-mail! Similar to the practice you should be using with telephone solicitors asking for personal information, if you're unsure, initiate the connection back to the business by going directly to the URL of the main business site and log in to your account there. Legitimate business should NEVER ask you to verify personal information by filling out a form sent via e-mail.

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