You are here: TWiki > YHPublic Web > YhgflEmailFaq r37 - 21 Jul 2008 - 10:14 - ChiAdmin


Start of topic | Skip to actions

YHGFL Email FAQ

Note on configuration

When configuring your email client using the instructions below:-

Where you see email addresses with the syntax as follows:

your.name@<your.domain.name>

Replace this with your own designated email address.

Where you see email server addresses with the syntax as follows:

pop3.<your.domain.name>
smtp.<your.domain.name>

Replace the <your.domain.name> with the text that follows the @ sign in your email address.

How to access your emails through the Web Browser

Open up your web browser

Type into the address bar:
webmail.<your.domain.name>

Enter your username and password.

Webmail Configuration

When you have successfully logged in, click Options, then click Personal Information.

Click Reply To: field.

Enter your full email address.

Click the Submit button located at the bottom right of the screen.

How to access your emails through an email client

Eudora

Launch Eudora.

Right click on your current personality and select New. The New Account Wizard launches.

Select Create a brand new e-mail account, then click Next.

Type a name for your new personality in the Personality Name: field then select Next. This is the name that will appear in the Personality list.
Example: your.name@<your.domain.name>

In the Your Name: field, type the name that you would like to appear in the From: field of any E-mail messages that you send, then click Next
Example: Your Name

Type your entire E-mail address in the E-mail Address: field, then click Next.
Example: your.name@<your.domain.name>

Type your complete E-mail address into the login field then click Next
Example: your.name@<your.domain.name>

Set your Incoming mail server to your POP3 server
pop3.<your.domain.name>

Ensure that POP is selected as the server type, then click Next.

Set Outgoing mail server to your SMTP server and click Next.
smtp.<your.domain.name>

Click Finish to create the account.

Right click on your new personality and click Properties from the menu that appears.

Under SMTP Server, ensure the Authentication allowed is Ticked, then click on OK.

Your set-up is complete.

IncrediMail Xe

With IncrediMail open, click on the "Tools" menu, then click on "Accounts...".

Click "Add".

Click the "Let me configure settings myself" button, then click "Next".

Enter the name you want displayed when you send email in the "Your name is:" box. Enter the POP email address you created for your WebMail account in the "Your email address:" box. Click "Next".
Your name is: Your Name
Your email address is: your.name@<your.domain.name>

IncrediMail Xe will attempt to discover the mail servers itself. If this is not correct, enter the server names yourself. Click "Next".
Incoming mail server: pop3.<your.domain.name>
Outgoing mail server: smtp.<your.domain.name>

Enter the POP email address in the "Username:" box. Enter the password for this POP account in the "Password:" box. Click "Finish".
Username: your.name@<your.domain.name>
Password: yourpassword

Click "OK".

Click on the name of the account you just created and click "Properties".

Click the "Servers" tab on the window that pops up.

Check the "My server requires authentication" checkbox is ticked. Click "OK".

If you will be using your WebMail POP account as your primary email account, click "Set as Default". The word "(default)" will appear beside your account.

Click "Close" and you're done! You can now send and receive email using your new POP email account.

Microsoft Outlook 98/2000

With Microsoft Outlook open, click on the "Tools" menu, then click on "Accounts...":

Click on the "Add >" button, then click on "Mail..." in the menu that pops up:

Enter the name you want displayed when you send email. Click "Next >".
Example Your Name

Enter the POP email name you created for your WebMail account. Click "Next >".
pop3.<your.domain.name>

Make sure that "POP3" is selected. Enter the following details the incoming and outgoing servers. Click "Next >".
Incoming Mail Server pop3.<your.domain.name>
Outgoing Mail Server smtp.<your.domain.name>

Your account name will be filled out for you. Enter the password for this POP account and make sure "Remember password" is checked if you want Outlook to remember your password for you. "Log on using Secure Password Authentication (SPA)" must be not be checked. Click "Next >".

Select the method you use to connect to the Internet. This should be the same as any other accounts you have. Click "Next >".
Connect using my local area network (LAN)

Click "Finish".

If you will be using your WebMail POP account as your primary email account, click "Set as Default". The new account should change from "mail" to "mail (default)".

Click "Close" and you're done! You can now send and receive email using your new POP email account.

Microsoft Outlook 2002

With Microsoft Outlook open, click on the "Tools" menu, then click on "E-mail Accounts...":

Click "Add a new e-mail account", then click "Next >".

Click "POP3", then click "Next >".

Enter the name you want displayed in the "Your Name:" box.

Enter the POP email address you created for your WebMail account in the "E-mail Address:" box.

Enter mail.yourdomain.com as both the Incoming and Outgoing servers.

Enter the POP email address in the "User Name:" box.

Enter the password for this POP account in the "Password:" box and make sure "Remember password" is checked if you want Outlook to remember your password for you.

"Log on using Secure Password Authentication (SPA)" must be not be checked.

Click "More Settings..."

User Information

Your Name: Your Name
Email Address: your.name@<your.domain.name>

Server Information

Incoming Mail Server (POP3): pop3.<your.domain.name>
Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP): smtp.<your.domain.name>

Logon Information

Username: your.name@<your.domain.name>
Password: yourpassword

Click the "Outgoing Server" tab in the window that pops up.

Check the "My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication" checkbox. The "Use same settings as my incoming mail server" button will be selected by default, and is the correct setting. Click "OK".

Click "Next >".

Click "Finish".

If you will be using your WebMail POP account as your primary email account, click on the "Tools" menu, then click on "E-mail Accounts..." again:

Click "View or change existing e-mail accounts", then click "Next >".

Click on "pop3.yhgfl.net", then click "Set as Default".

Click "Finish" and you're done! You can now send and receive email using your new POP email account.

Microsoft Outlook Express

With Microsoft Outlook Express open, click on the "Tools" menu, then click on "Accounts...":

Click on the "Add >" button, then click on "Mail..." in the menu that pops up:

Enter the name you want displayed when you send email. Click "Next >".
Example: Your Name

Enter the POP email address you created for your WebMail account. Click "Next >".
Example: your.name@<your.domain.name>

Make sure that "POP3" is selected. Enter mail.yourdomain.com as both the incoming and outgoing servers. Click "Next >".
Incoming mail server: pop3.<your.domain.name>
Outgoing mail server: smtp.<your.domain.name>

Enter POP email address in the "Account name:" box. Enter the password for this POP account in the "Password:" box and make sure "Remember password" is checked if you want Outlook Express to remember your password for you. "Log on using Secure Password Authentication (SPA)" must not be checked. Click "Next >".
Account name: pop3.<your.domain.name>
Password: yourpassword

Click "Finish".

Click the "Mail" tab.

Click on the name of the account you just created and click "Properties".

Click on the "Servers" tab in the window that pops up.

Check the "My server requires authentication" checkbox. Click "OK".

If you will be using your WebMail POP account as your primary email account, click "Set as Default". The new account's Type should change from "mail" to "mail (default)".

Click "Close" and you're done! You can now send and receive email using your new POP email account.

* The following link shows a shows screen shots of the configuration process YHGFL_Email_Settings.doc

Netscape/Mozilla

These instructions are the same for both Netscape and Mozilla.

With Netscape open, click on the "Window" menu then click on "Mail & Newsgroups":

With Mail open, click on the "Edit" menu, then click on "Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings...":

Click "Add Account".

"Email account" should be selected for you. If not, select it. Click "Next".

Enter the name you want displayed when you send email in the "Your Name:" box, and the POP email address you created for your WebMail account in the "Email Address:" box. Click "Next".
Your Name: Your Name
Email Address: your.name@<your.domain.name>

Make sure that "POP" is selected. Enter mail.yourdomain.com in the "Incoming Server:" box. (If this is the first email account you are setting up in Netscape, you will also be asked for an Outgoing Server. Enter smtp.yhgfl.net as the Outgoing Server as well.) Click "Next".
Incoming Server: pop3.<your.domain.name>
Outgoing Server: smtp.<your.domain.name>

Enter the POP email address in the "User Name:" box. Click "Next"
Username: your.name@<your.domain.name>

Enter a name for this account in the "Account Name:" box. Click "Next".
Account Name: your.name@<your.domain.name>

Click "Finish".

If you will be using your WebMail POP account as your primary email account, click "Set as Default".

Click "OK" and you're done! You can now send and receive email using your new POP email account.

Opera

With Opera open, click on the "Mail" menu, then click on "New account..."

Click on "Regular e-mail (POP)", then click "Next >".

Enter the name you want displayed when you send email in the "Real name" box, and enter the POP email address you created for your WebMail account in the "E-mail address" box. Click "Next >".
Real name: Your Name
E-mail address: your.name@<your.domain.name>
Organization: YHGfL Foundation

Enter the POP email address in the "Login name" box. Enter the password for your POP email account in the "Password" box. Click "Next >".
Login name: your.name@<your.domain.name>
Password: yourpassword

The "Incoming server" and "Outgoing server" boxes will be filled in for you. If you are planning on accessing your email from more than one computer or through YHPublicWebmail?, leave the "Leave messages on server" box checked; otherwise, uncheck it. Make sure Use Secure Connection (TLS) is not ticked Click "Finish".
Incoming Server: pop3.<your.domain.name>

Click on the "Mail" menu, then click on "Manage accounts..."

Click on the account you just created, then click "Edit..."

Click on the "Servers" tab of the window that pops up.

In the "Outgoing SMTP server" section, click on the drop-down box next to "Authentication" and select "Auto" from the list. Enter the POP email address in the "Username" box and the password for that POP account in the "Password" box. Click "OK".
Username: your.name@<your.domain.name>
Password: yourpassword

Click "Close".

Now when you're composing a new email message, you can select which account to send the message from.

Thunderbird

With Mail open, click on the "Tools" menu, then click on "Account Settings...".

Click "Add Account...".

"Email account" should be selected for you. If not, select it. Click "Next >".

Enter the name you want displayed when you send email in the "Your Name:" box, and the POP email address you created for your WebMail account in the "Email Address:" box. Click "Next >".
Your Name: Your Name
Email Address: your.name@<your.domain.name>

Make sure that "POP" is selected. Enter pop3.yhgfl.net in the "Incoming Server:" box. (If this is the email first account you are setting up in Thunderbird, you will also be asked for an Outgoing Server. Enter smtp.yhgfl.net as the Outgoing Server as well.) Click "Next >".
Incoming Server: pop3.<your.domain.name>
Outgoing Server: smtp.<your.domain.name>

Enter the POP email address in the "User Name:" box. Click "Next".
Username: your.name@<your.domain.name>

Enter a name for this account in the "Account Name:" box. Click "Next >".
Account Name: your.name@<your.domain.name>

Click "Finish".

If you will be using your WebMail POP account as your primary email account, click "Set as Default".

Click "OK" and you're done! You can now send and receive email using your new POP email account.

Thunderbird Help

Thunderbird: How to set up a custom filter

With Thunderbird open, Click Tools Click Message Filters

Click New

Filtername = The name of your filter that you want to create.

Click Match all of the following

Click Customise

In New Message Header type X-Sender

Click Add Click Ok

Ensure Contains is selected Enter the full email address address who you wish to filter in the field next to Contains

To move these message to a specific folder perform the following instructions:-

Ensure Move Message to is selected Click the field next to Move Message and select the required folder to move these messages into.

Click OK The filter is now set up and will move messages into the required folder.

Email Help

Email: I keep receiving emails with {SPAM?} in the subject line

The YHGfL mail solution scans messages for potential spam and gives each message a rating. Depending upon this rating mail is split into three categories

  • Not Spam
  • Potential Spam
  • Definitely Spam

Emails categorised as Not Spam are delivered unmodified.
Emails categorised as Potential Spam are marked on the subject line with {SPAM?} and delivered for you to decide if you think it is spam or not.
Emails categorised as Definitely Spam are not delivered to you.

Email: I can't receive emails

If someone has sent you an email and you have not received it. You have several options:

  1. Check that the sender has spelt your email address right.
  2. Check to see whether you have received an email stating that the email contains bad content. If it does, contact your System Administrator.

Email: Sent mail returned

If you keep getting your email returned when sending an email to another person, check that their email address is spelt correctly.

Email: My email returns with this error "550 Mail Rejected. xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx was found on the YHGfL? dnsbl as a suspected spam source. See http://tqmcube.com/policy.php for further details."

The YHGfL? mailservers are configured to deny accepting mail from either machines with dynamic IP addresses of IP addresses that have sent spam to the tqmcube spam trap email addresses. You need to contact your ISP and give them the following URL

http://tqmcube.com/policy.php

So they can get them selves removed.

Email: My email returns with this error "552 Exceeded local data allocation limit"

This means that the recipient's mailbox is full. Please notify the recipient by other means to notify them that their mailbox is full.

Email: Why have I received an email from root(at)yhgfl.net?

Presently root(at)yhgfl.net will send you and email in the following circumstances:-

If you send a email to someone whose mailbox is full.

You will receive an email containing the following text.

----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors -----

(reason: 452 4.2.2 Over quota)

NOTE Do not reply to this system created email as it will be returned to root(at)yhgfl.net and not your intended recipient

Webmail Help

Webmail: Features

Webmail: Help Documentation

Documentation for how to carryout tasks in the webmail interface are well documented in the webmail application and can be found by clicking the Help link at the top of the screen.

Webmail: How do I forward emails to another email address?

NOTE:- Prior to setting up forwarding you need to configure your webmail account instructions can be found below
http://wiki.yhgfl.net/bin/view/YHPublic/YhgflEmailFaq#Webmail_Configuration

Login to your webmail account and select the Filter link at the top of the screen

Select the Add a new rule button

  • Select the Header Match radio button then click the Move on to Step 2 button.
  • Select the Less button.
  • Select the Less button.
  • Enter your email address into the third blank dialog box then click the Move on to Step 3 button.
  • Select the Redirect to the following email address: radio button then replace someone@example.org with the email address you wish to redirect email to into the dialog box below the afore mentioned radio button. If you want to keep a local copy of the message then check the Keep a local copy as well check box. Now select the Move on to Step 4 button.
  • Select the Finished button
  • Select the Save Changes button.

Webmail: How do I set an out of office message?

Login to your webmail account and select the Filter link at the top of the screen.

  • Select the Add a new rule button.
  • Select the All Messages radio button then click the Move on to Step 2 button.
  • Select the "Vacation" radio button then enter your email address in the Addresses: Only reply if sent to these addresses: dialog box.
  • Enter the number of days to elapse before a new duplicate out of office message is sent to people sending you emails into the Days: Reply message will be resent after
  • Enter a message in the Use the following message dialog box. NOTE:- Be sure to put your name in the message as the automated response will come from the Mail System rather than from yourself.
  • Select the Move on to Step 4 button.
  • Select the Finished button.
  • Select the Save Changes button.

Webmail: Is there a global address book feature

Yes, all users on the mail solution are listed in the global address book. This is accessed by selecting the compose link at the top of the screen. Then clicking the addresses button.
Now enter the name or partial name you wish to search for in the Search for dialog box and click the Search button.
Next select the email addresses you wish to use and click the Use Addresses button.

Webmail: How to import addresses from a csv file

Addresses can be imported into the personal address book linked to your YHPublicWebmail? account using a CSV (Comma Separated Value) file. The fields needed to populate the address book are shown in the following example:

Nickname Full Name First Name Last Name E-mail Address Additional Info
Steve L Steve Lawrance Steve Lawrance steve.lawrance@madeupcorp.com Made Up Corp Account Manager
Bill R Bill Richards Bill Richards bill.richards@madeupcorp.com Made Up Corp Project Manager

This would appear in the CSV file as:

Steve L,Steve Lawrance,Steve,Lawrance,steve.lawrance@madeupcorp.com,Made Up Corp Account Manager
Bill R,Bill Richards,Bill,Richards,bill.richards@madeupcorp.com,Made Up Corp Project Manager

Once you have your CSV file ready to go with the correct formatting, when you have logged into your webmail account, from the Inbox view select Addresses. At the bottom of the address book view you can import your addresses by clicking on the Browse button and browsing to your CSV file. Once you have selected your CSV file, click on the Import CSV File button and the addresses will be imported.

Webmail: How to block email addresses

If you keep getting spam from the same address, or you wish to block an email account from emailing you, follow these steps.
Create a filtering rule on your mailbox

  • Click the Options link at the top of the page
  • Click the Message Filters link
  • Click Add a New Rule button
  • Tick Header Match and click Move on to step 2 >> button
  • Use the dropdown boxes and the free form dialog box to describe the criteria you wish to filter the message by. For example Subject contains Icecream
  • Click the Move on to step 3 >> button
  • Tick Discard Silently check box and click Move on to step 4 >> button
  • Click the Finished button in order to add this rule
  • Click the Save Changes button to write rule to server

Webmail: How to check whether an email address I have inputted is valid

Email addresses come in a pretty standard format. They must not contain any special characters in it and no spaces.

The layout tends to be username, the @ (pronounced 'at') symbol, the domain name a . (pronounced dot) followed by a TLD (top level domain, such as com, co.uk, me.uk, etc...)

The username may contain dots so therefore it could look something like this:

my.name
myname
My-Name-again
MyNameagain111

The domain name is only one word such as:

yhgfl
another-yhgfl

So therefore all together an email address should look similar to the following:

my.name@yhgfl.net
MYname@another-yhgfl.co.uk

Here are some examples of email addresses not accepted:

my name@yhgfl.net
my^%^%^$£^@yhgfl.net
myname@$$£££.co.uk
myname.co.uk

Webmail: How to change your email password

If you want to change your password for you email account, do the following.

  • Login to your webmail with your existing credentials
  • Click the Options link at the top of the page
  • Click the Change Password link
  • Enter your existing password in Old Password:
  • Enter your new password in New Password:
  • Enter your new password again in Verify New Password:
  • Click Change Password

Your password will now be changed.

Webmail: Common Issues

Webmail: How do I filter from a forwarded email?

If we take an analogy of a letter being sent to you, you receive a letter and then want to send this to another person. You place the original letter into another envelope and send this letter to the next person. On the back on the envelope you write your return address.

The next person receives this letter and wants to categorise the letter received by the originating sender. Naturally, they can not do this by reading the back of the letter as the return-to address is of the person who forwarded this letter on!!!! The only way they can find out who was the originating sender would be to open the envelope and read the letter.

In email terms, a field called X-Sender stores the originating email sender. However, not all email packages allow filtering on this field, YHPublicWebmail? is currently one of them! However, email packages such as Thunderbird, you can create a custom filter that will allow categorising of emails. Follow the instructions here

Webmail: I have forgotten my username

If you cannot remember your username, your username is your email address. First course of action is to contact someone who will have your email address. If you are still struggling to remember your username, contact your System Administrator.

Webmail: I have forgotten my password

If you cannot remember your password, contact your System Administrator.

Webmail: I keep getting messages saying that my mailbox is full.

What you will need to do is delete some old emails. However, just emptying them into your trash can is not feasible as emails in the trash can are included in your mail quota. What you will need to do is to delete the old emails permanently. The following steps will shows you how to delete your mail permanently. Note that any emails that you delete permanently cannot be recovered so be very careful upon what you delete.

  1. Click Options
  2. Click Folder Preferences
  3. Underneath the Special Folder Options, directly to the right of Trash Folder, click that box and select Do not use Trash
  4. Click Submit
  5. Click Inbox on the right and side and start deleting emails that you will not require again.

After you have removed enough email to take you under the mail quota, remember to reset the Trash folder back to Inbox/Trash

Webmail: Why is a different email address displayed when someone replys to one of my emails?

The reply to field must be specified with your email address. If this is not specified, someone will not be able to reply to your emails.

In order to set this up,

Follow the instructions here

Security

Email Security Policy

E-Mail is now very much an integral part of our electronic lives and while it is a fast and convenient medium for communication, it is however one the most prolific ways of spreading malicious code. For this reason, using the old adage that prevention is better than cure, e-mail sent through YHGfL is subject to stringent security restrictions as detailed below.

File Types

The following types of files are disallowed:

executables (programs), MPEG movies, AVI movies, MNG/PNG movies, password protected zip files, QuickTime movies,Windows media files, Windows Registry files, Windows Metafont drawings and any file with extra long filenames.

html emails

The YHGfL email solution automatically converts all html formatted emails back to plain text. The reason for this is to protect users from the following:-

  • Spammers attempting to verify valid email addresses using web bugs
  • Spammers sending html embedded images to users

File Extensions

The following file extensions are denied:

Extension Reason
.wmf Windows Metafile security vulnerability
.bmp Windows bitmap file security vulnerability
.ico Windows icon file security vulnerability
.ani Windows animated cursor file security vulnerability
.cur Windows cursor file security vulnerability
.hlp Windows help file security vulnerability
.ceo Often used by the WinEvar virus
.rar Often used by the I-Worm.Yanker virus
.cab Possible malicious Microsoft cabinet file
.reg Possible Windows registry attack
.chm Possible compiled Help file-based virus
.cnf Possible SpeedDial attack
.hta Possible Microsoft HTML archive attack
.ins Possible Microsoft Internet Comm. Settings attack
.jse Possible Microsoft JScript attack
.job Possible Microsoft Task Scheduler attack
.lnk Possible Eudora *.lnk security hole attack
.ma[dfgmqrstvw] Possible Microsoft Access Shortcut attack
.pif Possible MS-Dos program shortcut attack
.scf Possible Windows Explorer Command attack
.sct Possible Microsoft Windows Script Component attack
.shb Possible document shortcut attack
.shs Possible Shell Scrap Object attack
.vb[es] Possible Microsoft Visual Basic script attack
.ws[cfh] Possible Microsoft Windows Script Host attack
.xnk Possible Microsoft Exchange Shortcut attack
.cer Dangerous Security Certificate
.its Dangerous Internet Document Set
.mau Dangerous attachment type
.md[az] Dangerous attachment type
.prf Dangerous Outlook Profile Settings
.pst Dangerous Office Data File
.tmp Dangerous Temporary File
.vsmacros Dangerous Visual Studio Macros
.vs[stw] Dangerous attachment type
.ws Dangerous Windows Script
.com Windows/DOS Executable
.exe Windows/DOS Executable
.scr Possible virus hidden in a screensaver
.bat Possible malicious batch file script
.cmd Possible malicious batch file script
.cpl Possible malicious control panel item
.mhtml Possible Eudora meta-refresh attack

Email Size Restrictions

In addition to these restrictions an e-mail size limitation is in force. The maximum message size is 12MB including attachments.

General Email Security Tips

We recommend that you follow these simple, common-sense precautions to reduce your exposure and protect your system:

  1. Do not open e-mail attachments from an unknown, suspicious, or untrustworthy source. If you're not familiar with the sender do not open, download or, most importantly, execute any files or e-mail attachments.
  2. Do not open an e-mail attachment unless you know what it is—even if it appears to come from a friend or someone you know. Some viruses replicate themselves and spread via e-mail. Stay on the safe side and confirm that the attachment was sent from a trusted source before you open it.
  3. Do not open any e-mail attachments if the subject line is questionable. If you feel that the attachment may be important to you, always save the file to your hard drive before you open it.
  4. Delete chain e-mails and other spam from your inbox. It's best not to forward or reply to messages like these. Unsolicited, intrusive mail clogs up networks, may contain annoying or offensive content, and may result in security and privacy risks.
  5. Exercise caution when downloading files from the Internet. Make sure that the website is legitimate and reputable. Verify that an anti-virus program checks the files on the download site. If you have any doubts don't download the file at all. The other alternative is to download the file to a CD and test it with your own anti-virus software.
  6. Update your anti-virus software often. Threats are on the increase, and they are constantly evolving. Hundreds of viruses are discovered each month. To make sure that you are protected against the newest breed of threats, you'll want to update your anti-virus software frequently. That means downloading the latest virus signature files and the most current version of the scanning engine.
  7. Back up your files frequently. If a virus infects your files, at least you can replace them with your back-up copy. It's a good idea to store your backup files (on CDs or flash drives) in another secure physical location away from your computer.
  8. Update your operating system, web browser, and e-mail program on a regular basis. For example, you can get Microsoft® security updates for Microsoft® Windows® and Microsoft® Explorer at http://www.microsoft.com/security.

Spam

What is Spam?

Spam is electronic junk mail or junk newsgroup postings. Some people define spam even more generally as any unsolicited e-mail. However, if a long-lost brother finds your e-mail address and sends you a message, this could hardly be called spam even though it's unsolicited. Real spam is generally e-mail advertising for some product sent to a mailing list or newsgroup.

In addition to wasting peoples time with unwanted e-mail, spam also eats up a lot of network bandwidth. Consequently, there are many organizations such as ourselves, as well as individuals, who have taken it upon themselves to fight spam with a variety of techniques. But because the Internet is public, there is really little that can be done to prevent spam, just as it is impossible to prevent junk mail. However, some online services have instituted policies to prevent spammers from spamming their subscribers.

There is some debate about the source of the term, but the generally accepted version is that it comes from the Monty Python song, "Spam spam spam spam, spam spam spam spam, lovely spam, wonderful spam…" Like the song, spam is an endless repetition of worthless text. Another school of thought maintains that it comes from the computer group lab at the University of Southern California who gave it the name because it has many of the same characteristics as the lunchmeat spam:

  • Nobody wants it or ever asks for it.
  • No one ever eats it; it is the first item to be pushed to the side when eating the entree.
  • Sometimes it is actually tasty, like 1% of junk mail that is really useful to some people.

How to Recognise Spam

It is normally fairly easy to recognise Spam. The three things you would see in your list of messages are the author, your recipient address, and the subject. Any one of these could look OK, but if one of them looks odd, and mentions perhaps words like Viagra, or Free, then you can delete them unopened and unread.

You should not let messages display until you have checked the message header. You should never open an attachment unless you are expecting it and it is from someone you know and trust. And even then do not open attachments ending in .exe or .bat unless you have first asked your Virus tool to check it.

What to do when you receive Spam?

Do not reply to any spam message; it only confirms to the sender that you exist and your address will be more valuable and receive even more messages. Delete the email as soon as you recognise that it is Spam.

Phishing

What is Phishing?

Phishing is a form of criminal activity using social engineering techniques, characterized by attempts to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details. This is done by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business in an apparently official electronic communication, such as an email or an instant message. The term phishing arises from the use of increasingly sophisticated lures to "fish" for users' financial information and passwords.

How to Recognise Phishing Emails

There are no limits to the inventiveness of fraudsters. It is very difficult to know for certain that phishing is taking place, but there are a number of characteristic features you can look out for:

Urgent! Emergency, Serious.
Phishing attempts usually involve a very urgent request to send personal information. The key point is that you have to respond very quickly. This plays on your fears, for example about missing something, such as a limited-time offer. Or the fear that your account will cease to be active if you do not log in quickly, for example into your Hotmail account.

Impersonal.
You are not addressed personally, whereas a legitimate mail from your bank, for example, would usually be addressed to you in person.

Hyperlinks.
You usually have to click on a link. If there is such a link, look carefully at its composition. It will often be camouflaged and on close inspection it may not be as it appeared at first glance. Instead of 'http://www.bank.com' it may have something like 'http://wwwbank.com'. Or the link may contain characters which are meaningless to a browser; everything in front of such a character will be ignored. An @ or a space 'breaks' a link in half and everything before the break is ignored. Such a hyperlink might look like this: 'http://www.bank.com@swindle.com'. After clicking on this link you will be taken to 'swindle.com'.

Attached programs or documents.
You may be asked to open an attachment. This may contain spyware or take you automatically to an online form.

Sloppily written text.
A good indication is the presence of grammatical and spelling errors and a sloppy style of writing. The more carelessly the text has been written, the greater the likelihood that you are dealing with a case of phishing.

What to do when you receive emails that are Phishing?

Delete immediately, do not reply to it and do not follow any instructions on that email.

Restored Email

Email that has been restored to a users account is restored to the users INBOX in a subfolder called restored

Webmail

To access this via webmail you must carry out the following procedure

  • Login to your webmail account
  • Select the Folders link from the menu bar
  • In the Subscribe / Unsubscribe section select INBOX/restored and click the Subscribe button
  • Select the refresh folder list link
  • Now click the restored folder link in the left menu panel

POP3

To access this via pop3 you must carry out the following procedure

  • Login to your webmail account
  • Select the Folders link from the menu bar
  • In the Subscribe / Unsubscribe section select INBOX/restored and click the Subscribe button
  • Select the refresh folder list link
  • Now click the restored folder link in the left menu panel

Now you must select all the mail in the restored folder and move it to the INBOX. Now the next time your pop3 client connects it will download the restored email

Edit | Attach | Printable | Raw View | Backlinks: Web, All Webs | History: r37 < r36 < r35 < r34 < r33 | More topic actions
YHPublic.YhgflEmailFaq moved from YHInternal/Documentation.YhgflEmailFaq on 27 Apr 2006 - 09:25 by ChiAdmin - put it back
This site is powered by the TWiki collaboration platformCopyright © by the contributing authors. All material on this collaboration platform is the property of the contributing authors.
Ideas, requests, problems regarding TWiki? Send feedback