Properly managing your email accounts
1. Using just one email account.
Individuals new to email often think about their email account like they do their home address, you only have one home address, so you should only have one email. Instead, you should think about your email address like you do your keys; while it may be OK to use the same key for your front and your back door, having a single key open everything is both impractical and unsafe.
A good rule of thumb for the average email user is to keep a minimum of three email accounts. Your work account should be used exclusively for work-related conversations. Your second email account should be used for personal conversations and contacts, and your third email account should be used as a general catch-all for all hazardous behavior. That means that you should always sign up for newsletters and contests only through your third email account. Similarly, if you have to post your email account online, such as for your personal blog, you should only use your third email account (and post a web friendly form of it at that).
While your first and second email accounts can be paid or freebie, your third 'catch-all' account should always be a freebie account such as those offered by Gmail or Yahoo!. You should plan on having to dump and change out this account every six months, as the catch-all account will eventually become spammed when a newsletter manager decides to sell your name or a spammer steals your email address off a Web site.
2. Holding onto spammed-out accounts too long.
It is simply a fact of life that email accounts will accumulate spam over time. This is especially true of the account you use to sign up for newsletters and that you post online (which as stated above should not be your main email account). When this happens, it is best to simply dump the email account and start afresh. Unfortunately, however, many new email users get very attached to their email accounts and instead just wade through dozens of pieces of spam every day. To avoid the problem, prepare yourself mentally ahead of time for the idea that you will have to dump your 'catch all' account every six months.
3. Not closing the browser after logging out.
When you are checking your email at a library or cybercafé you not only need to log out of your email when you are done, but you also need to make sure to close the browser window completely. Some email services display your username (but not your password) even after you have logged out. While the service does this for your convenience, it compromises your email security.
4. Forgetting to delete browser cache, history and passwords.
After using a public terminal, it is important that you remember to delete the browser cache, history, and passwords. Most browsers automatically keep track of all the web pages that you have visited, and some keep track of any passwords and personal information that you enter in order to help you fill out similar forms in the future.
If this information falls into the wrong hands, it can lead to identity theft and stolen bank and email information. Because the stakes are so high, it is important that new internet users be aware of how to clear a public computers browser cache so that they can delete private information before lurking hackers can get a hold of it.
For those of you using Mozilla's Firefox, simply press Ctrl+Shift+Del. Opera users need go to Tools>>Delete Private Data. And users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer need to go to Tools>>Internet Options then click the 'Clear History', 'Delete Cookies', and 'Delete Files' buttons.
http://www.itsecurity.com/features/25-common-email-security-mistakes-022807/
1. Using just one email account.
Individuals new to email often think about their email account like they do their home address, you only have one home address, so you should only have one email. Instead, you should think about your email address like you do your keys; while it may be OK to use the same key for your front and your back door, having a single key open everything is both impractical and unsafe.
A good rule of thumb for the average email user is to keep a minimum of three email accounts. Your work account should be used exclusively for work-related conversations. Your second email account should be used for personal conversations and contacts, and your third email account should be used as a general catch-all for all hazardous behavior. That means that you should always sign up for newsletters and contests only through your third email account. Similarly, if you have to post your email account online, such as for your personal blog, you should only use your third email account (and post a web friendly form of it at that).
While your first and second email accounts can be paid or freebie, your third 'catch-all' account should always be a freebie account such as those offered by Gmail or Yahoo!. You should plan on having to dump and change out this account every six months, as the catch-all account will eventually become spammed when a newsletter manager decides to sell your name or a spammer steals your email address off a Web site.
2. Holding onto spammed-out accounts too long.
It is simply a fact of life that email accounts will accumulate spam over time. This is especially true of the account you use to sign up for newsletters and that you post online (which as stated above should not be your main email account). When this happens, it is best to simply dump the email account and start afresh. Unfortunately, however, many new email users get very attached to their email accounts and instead just wade through dozens of pieces of spam every day. To avoid the problem, prepare yourself mentally ahead of time for the idea that you will have to dump your 'catch all' account every six months.
3. Not closing the browser after logging out.
When you are checking your email at a library or cybercafé you not only need to log out of your email when you are done, but you also need to make sure to close the browser window completely. Some email services display your username (but not your password) even after you have logged out. While the service does this for your convenience, it compromises your email security.
4. Forgetting to delete browser cache, history and passwords.
After using a public terminal, it is important that you remember to delete the browser cache, history, and passwords. Most browsers automatically keep track of all the web pages that you have visited, and some keep track of any passwords and personal information that you enter in order to help you fill out similar forms in the future.
If this information falls into the wrong hands, it can lead to identity theft and stolen bank and email information. Because the stakes are so high, it is important that new internet users be aware of how to clear a public computers browser cache so that they can delete private information before lurking hackers can get a hold of it.
For those of you using Mozilla's Firefox, simply press Ctrl+Shift+Del. Opera users need go to Tools>>Delete Private Data. And users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer need to go to Tools>>Internet Options then click the 'Clear History', 'Delete Cookies', and 'Delete Files' buttons.
http://www.itsecurity.com/features/25-common-email-security-mistakes-022807/