Electronic mail is used every day by millions of people for personal and business communication. Understanding email security risks and how to avoid them is key to helping safeguard your email usage.
Sensitive Information
- When sending personal information such as an address or telephone number, verify that the email address you are sending it to belongs to the person you intend to receive it. Sensitive information such as passwords, bank account numbers and Social Security numbers should never be sent via email.
Phishing
- Scams called "phishing" attempt to dupe consumers into revealing account login information by pretending to be a legitimate company and sending an email claiming that there is a problem with their account. Always check with the company that a suspect email is claiming to be.
Junk Mail
- Unsolicited or "junk" email is also called "spam." Install a spam filter onto your desktop mail client or use a trusted webmail provider that provides powerful spam filters to automatically delete messages from known spammers.
Sending Attachments
- Before sending, check with your email provider to ensure that your attachment meets the size limits set by your administrator. If your document contains sensitive data, you can provide a layer of protection by first compressing it in a different file format (such as .zip or .rar) and requiring a password to access the data.
Receiving Attachments
- Always run a virus scan on an attachment before opening it. Never open an attachment from a spammer or otherwise unsolicited or unknown source. Never open attachments with the extension .exe as this may open a virus that can harm your computer.
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