Spam is increasingly a costly and time-consuming issue for businesses.
As spam filters become more sophisticated, so do the techniques used by spammers to circumvent the filters.
It can be confusing for business owners to wade through all the promotional hype for the myriad of anti-spam solutions on the market today.
Choosing the right spam filter can save businesses tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year and increase email security, whereas choosing the wrong spam filter can result in decreased employee productivity, wasted network resources, and can expose businesses to potentially devastating virus infection and data theft.
One of the most difficult types of spam to catch with a spam filter is the phishing scam.
These emails look very much like legitimate communications from reputable companies, such as a bank, eBay, or PayPal.
Typically, a phishing spam email attempts to convince the recipient to click on a provided link in order to verify account information.
Once the spam recipient enters personal information, such as a bank or credit card account number, a social security number, or a password, the information is harvested and used by the spammer to either steal funds directly from the recipient or to steal from other companies.
One reason many phishing emails are able to penetrate spam filters is that they do not use words generally associated with spam, such as "free," "Viagra," "bonus," or "Nigeria.
" The messages appear to come from reputable websites or organizations.
The only difference is that the original email address and the URL provided in the email divert the recipient to the spammer's website.
Sophisticated spam filters are able to detect most phishing spam emails using a combination of personalized word comparison and experience with existing phishing spam.
Effective spam filters will auto-update frequently and will incorporate new phishing scams when scanning incoming email.
Taking the time to research and review the components and benefits of various spam filters, and choosing a product based on the level of protection it provides, will save you a significant amount of time, resources, and money in the long run.
As spam filters become more sophisticated, so do the techniques used by spammers to circumvent the filters.
It can be confusing for business owners to wade through all the promotional hype for the myriad of anti-spam solutions on the market today.
Choosing the right spam filter can save businesses tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year and increase email security, whereas choosing the wrong spam filter can result in decreased employee productivity, wasted network resources, and can expose businesses to potentially devastating virus infection and data theft.
One of the most difficult types of spam to catch with a spam filter is the phishing scam.
These emails look very much like legitimate communications from reputable companies, such as a bank, eBay, or PayPal.
Typically, a phishing spam email attempts to convince the recipient to click on a provided link in order to verify account information.
Once the spam recipient enters personal information, such as a bank or credit card account number, a social security number, or a password, the information is harvested and used by the spammer to either steal funds directly from the recipient or to steal from other companies.
One reason many phishing emails are able to penetrate spam filters is that they do not use words generally associated with spam, such as "free," "Viagra," "bonus," or "Nigeria.
" The messages appear to come from reputable websites or organizations.
The only difference is that the original email address and the URL provided in the email divert the recipient to the spammer's website.
Sophisticated spam filters are able to detect most phishing spam emails using a combination of personalized word comparison and experience with existing phishing spam.
Effective spam filters will auto-update frequently and will incorporate new phishing scams when scanning incoming email.
Taking the time to research and review the components and benefits of various spam filters, and choosing a product based on the level of protection it provides, will save you a significant amount of time, resources, and money in the long run.
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