Simple Do-It-Yourself Email Security

Simple Do-It-Yourself

"Worm-Proof" Your Address Book:

  1. In your address book, create a new contact named "!0000" (exclamation point and four zeros).

  2. Do Not assign an email address or any other information to this entry.

  3. Save the new contact.

  4. This can be applied to both your resident (Outlook, etc.) and online Contacts List.

How It Works:

Most Address Book worms rely on contact names with email addresses to do their damage. Once they have "read" the first entry in your Address Book and spawned an infected email to the recipient, the task is finished. The worm moves on to the next contact and repeats the task until it goes through your entire Contact List.

By creating a Contact Name "!0000" with no email address you stop this whole process before it even starts. By the very nature of how computers sort information, "!0000" automatically goes to the top of your Contact List. Without an email address to go along with the entry the worm stops dead in its tracks.

Sending/Forwarding Email to Multiple Recipients Without Revealing Their Address Information:

  1. Create a new contact in your Address Book. Name it "Friends and Family," "Undisclosed Recipients," or whatever you like.

    1. Assign Your Email Address to this entry.

    2. Save this new contact.

  2. To Send/Forward to multiple parties without revealing their address information:
    1. Use your "Friends and Family" entry in the "TO:" line.

    2. Add the other Recipient Addresses (or your Distribution List) in the "BCC:" line.

    3. Send the Email as you normally would.

How It Works:

You're really sending an Email to yourself and including a copy to other people.

When you include the other recipients in the "BCC:" (Blind Carbon Copy) line, you effectively hide their address information from all other parties included in the mailing.

This actually accomplishes two things:

  1. It preserves the identity of the Recipient(s)

  2. The Email comes addressed as if you had sent it to them directly.

Note:

Some corporate servers may prevent you from sending an email message from yourself, to yourself. In this case you might try using a public web-based address.

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