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Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Prevent Phishing and Spyware Attacks

I just finished reading an article in Information Week about how Yahoo is now authenticating email to prevent spam. It’s about time. The story reminded me of another article I read earlier about how “internet users are virtually clueless about security“. The article explains how many PC users think they’re safe from viruses, spyware and spam, but when the pollsters visited those homes they found spyware on 80% of the computers, two-thirds were not using a firewall system and another two-thirds hadn’t updated their virus protection in at least 7 days.

Spam, Spyware, Viruses, Phishing…will it ever stop? No, but as Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars said, “You can’t win, but there are alternatives to fighting.”

I wrote an article on “Preventing Phishing and Spyware” for the Alameda Chamber of Commerce Newsletter that I felt was fitting to post here as well. Knowing is half the battle and applying it is the other half. I can only provide the first half. You’ll have to put the other half into action. If you do, I can guarantee a huge reduction in the amount of spam, spyware and such.

Here are a few ways to protect yourself from these phishing scams.

  1. Don’t provide any of your personal information over the internet.
  2. When in doubt, delete. Delete any email you have doubts about, especially one that requests you to give up your personal, private information.
  3. If you feel the email looks suspicious, report the email to the ‘real’ company.

To prevent spyware, see my recent post on switching to an alternative browser: Prevent Spyware. The Easy Way.

See my other articles and posts pertaining to these problems and how to solve them.

- Spam. It’s Our Own Fault

- Blocking ALL Spam in Outlook

- Avoiding Spam

- Anti-Spam Article

- Virus Prevention Tips

Mike Swartz says, “Check it out!”

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 9:49 am

Comments: None | Filed under: Web General


Monday, November 15, 2004
Blog Comments

Isn’t that why blogs were created? To allow a two way communication between us bloggers and our readers? Well, I’ve added the ability to post comments to our blogs.

Adding comments to a blog post has many benefits, including:

  1. Driving Traffic to Your Site - When you post a comment, you usually add your website address with your post. So when other people read your comment, they have an opportunity to link back to your site, thereby increasing traffic to your site.
  2. Increasing Your Website Ranking - Adding your website when you post a comment can also increase your website ranking. The more relevant links you have to your site the higher your results in the search engines.
  3. Improved Communication – The greatest benefit, of course, is your feedback to the poster. Your comments and suggestions will only help improve the communication between you and your audience (i.e. customers).

I added comments to some of my recent posts and to some of my more popular posts.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask my readers what they would like to see in upcoming posts. Do you have any suggestions for new topics? Any web or internet related questions you have? Also, if there are any other posts you would like to comment on, please let me know and I’ll allow comments for those particular posts.

I look forward to your comments. ;-)

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 6:46 pm

Comments: None | Filed under: Blogging


Monday, November 8, 2004
Blocking ALL Spam in Outlook

Just decide that ALL email is bad, unless you approve it.

A similar concept comes from William O’Neil when purchasing stocks. He says, “All stocks are bad, unless they go up in price” That same concept can be applied to stopping spam. In other words, instead of blocking every piece of spam, only accept the email you approve.

To completely eliminate spam in Outlook 2003 (or XP),

  1. Click on Actions | Junk E-Mail | Junk E-Mail Options…
  2. Click on the Safe Senders tab.
  3. Add your approved email addresses to the Safe Senders List. Note: Email addresses in your Contacts and in the Global Address Book are included in this list by default.
  4. In order to eliminate ALL spam, you’ll need to select the Options tab and select “Safe Lists Only“. Selecting this option will only allow email from the addresses you added to your “Safe Senders” list. All other email will default to the Junk Email folder.

Pretty slick.

For more information on spam prevention and removal, see my other posts and articles.

Spam. It’s Our Own Fault
Avoiding Spam
Anti-Spam Article

Mike Swartz says, “Check it out”

=====================================================

P.S. This nifty feature is not available in Outlook Express (as far as I can tell), though there is a block list. Unfortunately using this method you’ll have to take the time to specifically block every spam message. This could become a second job, depending on how much spam you accumulate. If you don’t have Outlook XP or 2003, I recommend purchasing a third party piece of anti-spam software and apply the same method I outlined above.

P.S.S. I think it’s rather odd that Microsoft doesn’t provide any kind of “How To” articles on spam prevention on their own website.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 10:42 pm

Comments: None | Filed under: Web General


Monday, November 1, 2004
Search Engine Keyword Selection

Choosing the correct keywords is one of the most important factors when optimizing your website for search engines. Keywords are the backbone of search engine optimization, so choosing the right ones is critical.

Here is a simple list to get you started thinking about keywords and ultimately choosing the right ones.

  1. Check your website statistics - Here you will find what keywords people are typing in and what search engines they’re using.
  2. Use the obvious – You’ve already thought of a few keywords. Pick some more that come to mind. Think of your industry, customers, competition, etc. Ask the question: “What keywords would my customers use to find my website?”
  3. Check your competition’s website – What keywords is your competition using? Choose View | Source Code from your browser and look at the & tags. Could you use the same or a variation of their keywords?
  4. Just ask - Ask colleagues, your friends and even your customers.

This will give you a good list to start from. You might want to use all of them, but focus in on about 10 or less. The more focused your selection, the better.

When choosing your keywords, always remember to make sure you’re targeting your market, your niche, and your customers. Put yourself in their shoes.

‘til next time.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 11:16 pm

Comments: None | Filed under: SEO


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