What can I do about spam?

Apart from using the filters to send tagged spam email to the spam folder under webmail, staff and students should be careful with the use of their email address. The following tips are useful:

• Be very cautious about ever attempting to "unsubscribe" from spam email. Although many valid emails have a legitimate unsubscribe functionality, in almost every spam case, unsubscribing will confirm your email as valid to the spammer and you will receive even further spam
• Do not reply to any spam email, this will also result in receiving additional spam email
• Do not click on web sites contained within spam email. This can potentially register your for further Spam, or at worse, download a virus or malicious software
• If you can, use an alternative email address aside from your work email on the Internet for the things like web page registrations, instant messenging, web based discussion groups and mailing list discussions. Use another free email account that can be deleted later (such as a hotmail or yahoo email account)
• Avoid acquaintance spam by not providing a work based email on product registration cards, registrations with web servers, online purchases etc.
• Another important aspect of protecting your email address is to make sure you keep your computer updated with the latest operating system patches and keep anti-virus software updated. Without this your computer can remail very open to viruses and other malicious code that can search your computer and report back information to hackers.

What is the University doing about spam?

The University is proactively taking a number of steps to mitigate spam including:

• Placing spam filters on the central email servers that block known spammers
• Automatically tagging and filtering all incoming email to a spam folder on webmail
• Checking all incoming email for viruses and other malicious code and checking email for embedded web links to malicious sites.

Updated: 02 February 2009