MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- “Congratulations! You are the winner of a new desktop PC!”
So reads a popular spam e-mail, which also solicits a subscription and merchandise purchase. As more people use e-mail, marketers are increasingly using e-mail messages to pitch their products and services. Some consumers find unsolicited commercial e-mail annoying and time consuming; others have lost money or contracted computer viruses from bogus offers that arrived in their e-mail in box.
According to Gunnery Sgt. Anaiz Stinson, Station information assurance manager, government e-mail is no longer immune to spam.
“People are putting their government e-mails out on the Web,” said Stinson. “Spammers can do a scan of certain Web sites where you may have registered for something and collect addresses.”
According to the Federal Trade Commission Web site, this problem is best dealt with by limiting e-mail usage to within the local area of work.
“Try not to display your e-mail address in public,” the Web site states. “That includes newsgroup postings, chat rooms, Web sites or in an online service’s membership directory. You may want to opt out of member directories for your online services; spammers may use them to harvest addresses.”
Stinson affirmed the advice, noting the increase in spam even here.
“Every time that we send e-mail outside this base, even Okinawa, people can actually capture that information and gather e-mail addresses,” she said. “They can extract whatever they want.”
Stinson offers some practical advice for government employees currently under spam attack.
“You can create a new folder in your in box and direct everything with a dot com, dot net, or dot org extension to go there,” she said.
By clicking “Rules Wizard” under the Tools menu in Microsoft Outlook, government e-mail users can send e-mail to a specified folder, thereby diminishing the clutter from their inbox, and more importantly, decreasing the chance of contracting a virus.
“Viruses are the biggest problem when it comes to the spam,” said Stinson. “Spammers will send e-mails with viruses attached to them. Some of these e-mails, just by the act of opening them, will enact a virus. This is where we ask people to be vigilant. You have to ensure your virus definition is up to date.”
The virus blocking software referred to is installed on every government computer aboard the Station. This software is enacted by double clicking the gold shield icon on the right side of the Windows menu bar and selecting a drive to scan for viruses. It’s an action Stinson suggests performing at least once a week.
Still, according to Stinson, the greatest protection is afforded by remaining vigilant with incoming e-mail.
“Don’t open up e-mails that you are not expecting,” said Stinson. “People are always learning how to work the system and spread viruses through spam.”
For further questions about spam e-mail and how to protect your account, call the Information Systems Management Office at 253-6411.