The number of emails we receive daily is growing, and so are the number of unwanted emails. Spam emails can be frustrating to deal with, but what you think is spam, may actually be junk. Even though they both clog your inbox, the motives behind them, and how you deal with them, are very different.
Officially, spam is unsolicited and unwanted emails that are sent in bulk and often come from stolen or non-sensical email addresses. Examples of spam are:
- deceptive links to password resets (phishing attempts) and can appear to be from a legitimate businesses you regularly deal with;
- money fraud – lotto winnings, tax refunds, or an inheritance;
- dating scams.
Spam emails are malicious in intent, and their aim is to steal your accounts, dupe you out of money, or infect your system with malware to steal financial or other information.
Pamphlets or advertising that arrive in your letterbox are considered junk mail. These are genuine offers, but if they don’t interest you, they’re just annoying rubbish that ends up in the recycling.
Junk email is the electronic equivalent that ends up in your inbox. For instance, you’ll almost certainly start receiving emails or electronic ads after you make an online purchase. Although it may appear to be spam, especially if it is excessive, it is not unlawful (most of the time).
Junk email is legitimate and not malicious, just like junk mail. If you don’t want to receive them anymore, you can either file them away or simply click the unsubscribe button.
Using email filters
Most of today’s email programmes, like Gmail or Outlook.com, feature built-in email filters that can identify spam and automatically shift it to a ‘spam’ or ‘junk’ folder. They do this in a variety of ways, such as analysing the email’s content, assessing the sender’s reputation, looking up the sender’s IP address, domain, and spam-sending history. When you mark an item as spam, they also take user comments into account.
These filters aren’t flawless though, and sometimes a valid email gets flagged as spam or a spam email manages to get past the filter and end up in your inbox. Because of this, it is recommended to frequently check your spam folder for legitimate emails and mark them as ‘not spam’. When you do this, the email is moved to your inbox and the filter is trained to recognise similar emails in the future. Similarly, spam emails flagged as spam in your inbox are forwarded to your spam folder.
Use whitelists and blacklists to make sure you always get or always block specific emails or domains. Whitelists contain email addresses or domains you want to be sure you receive, whereas blacklists contain those you want to block.
It’s important that you and your staff understand the distinction between, and treatment of, spam and junk email for your business, as well as how to set up and make the most of email filters to safeguard your business. To learn more, please contact us to arrange a consultation with one of our knowledgeable team to learn more.
Idadi ya barua pepe zinazopokelewa kila siku inaongezeka, na hivyo ndivyo idadi ya barua pepe zisizohitajika. Spam inaweza kuwa ya kukatisha tamaa, lakini kwa kweli inaweza kuwa spam. Ingawa zote mbili huficha inbox yako, nia zao na jinsi unavyoshughulika nazo ni tofauti sana. Spam ni barua pepe zisizohitajika ambazo hutumwa kwa wingi na mara nyingi hutoka kwa anwani za barua pepe zilizoibiwa au zisizo na maana. Mifano ya spam ni: - viungo vya udanganyifu kwa resets password (majaribio ya udanganyifu) na inaweza kuonekana kuwa kutoka biashara halali wewe mara kwa mara kushughulika na; - fedha udanganyifu <unk> lotto ushindi, malipo ya kodi, au urithi; - dating scams. Spam ni barua pepe mbaya ambayo inakusudia kuiba akaunti zako, kukudanganya, au kuambukiza mfumo wako na programu hasidi ili kuiba habari za kifedha au nyingine. Vipeperushi au matangazo ya biashara yanayowasili kwenye sanduku lako la barua huonwa kuwa barua zisizofaa. Hizi ni ofa halisi, lakini kama hawajali wewe, wao ni tu taka annoying kwamba mwisho katika kuchakata. Barua pepe zisizohitajika ni sawa na elektroniki ambayo huishia kwenye sanduku lako la barua. Kwa mfano, karibu ni hakika utaanza kupokea barua pepe au matangazo ya elektroniki baada ya kununua mtandaoni. Ingawa inaweza kuonekana kuwa spam, hasa kama ni kupita kiasi, si kinyume cha sheria (mara nyingi). Barua pepe zisizofaa ni halali na si zenye kudhuru, kama vile barua zisizofaa. Kama hutaki kupokea yao tena, unaweza ama faili yao mbali au tu bonyeza kifungo unsubscribe. Kutumia filters barua pepe Wengi wa leo programu za barua pepe, kama Gmail au Outlook.com, kipengele kujengwa katika filters barua pepe ambayo inaweza kutambua spam na moja kwa moja kuhamisha kwa "spam" au "junk" folder. Wao kufanya hivyo katika njia mbalimbali, kama vile kuchambua maudhui ya barua pepe, kutathmini sifa ya mtumaji, kuangalia juu ya anwani ya IP ya mtumaji, uwanja, na spam-kutuma historia. Unapochora kitu kama spam, pia huchukua maoni ya mtumiaji kwa kuzingatia. Vichujio hivi si flawless ingawa, na wakati mwingine barua pepe halali anapata flagged kama spam au barua pepe spam kusimamia kupata zamani chujio na kuishia katika sanduku lako la barua pepe. Kwa sababu hii, inashauriwa mara kwa mara kuangalia folda yako spam kwa barua pepe halali na alama yao kama <unk> si spam<unk>. Wakati unafanya hivyo, barua pepe hupelekwa kwenye sanduku lako la barua pepe na kichujio hufundishwa kutambua barua pepe sawa katika siku zijazo. Kwa mfano, barua pepe za spam zilizowekwa alama kama spam kwenye sanduku lako la kuwasili zinaelekezwa kwenye folda yako ya spam. Tumia orodha nyeupe na nyeusi ili kuhakikisha kuwa unapata au kuzuia barua pepe au vikoa maalum. Orodha nyeupe zina anwani za barua pepe au vikoa ambavyo unataka kuwa na uhakika wa kupokea, wakati orodha nyeusi zina zile unazotaka kuzuia. Ni muhimu kwamba wewe na wafanyakazi wako kuelewa tofauti kati ya, na matibabu ya, spam na barua pepe junk kwa ajili ya biashara yako, kama vile jinsi ya kuanzisha na kufanya zaidi ya filters barua pepe kulinda biashara yako. Ili kujua zaidi, tafadhali wasiliana nasi na kupanga kushauriana na mmoja wa timu yetu ya ujuzi ili kujifunza zaidi.