| Difficulty |
You Should... |
More Info... |
| Easy |
use a unique, unobvious, unguessable, safe email password; change it regularly, store it securely, and never
give it out to anyone |
Passphrase Info |
| Easy |
never open unexpected, unknown email attachments, even those from trusted sources -- save all attachments to disk and scan for viruses/trojans first |
Anti-Virus Programs
Anti-Virus Info |
| Easy |
never reply to spammers, even to "opt out" of unwanted email or "services" |
Privacy Docs & FAQ's |
| Medium |
set up disposeable, anonymous email accounts (e.g., Hotmail or Yahoo) for public use and reserve your main email account for use with close friends and family members |
Internet Privacy
Services/Solutions |
| Hard |
use an anonymous email service or remailer |
Email Encryption/
Anonymizing
Internet Privacy Services/Solutions |
| Easy |
post to public newgroups/forums with a "munged" email address |
Address Munging FAQ |
| Medium |
configure your email program's security features (esp. handling of attachments, HTML, scripts, macros, Java, and ActiveX) for maximum security |
|
| Easy |
disable the preview pane in your email program |
|
| Hard |
get the latest security patches and updates for your email program |
Critical Software
Updates |
| Hard |
acquire and learn to use a personal encryption program (e.g., PGP) |
Email Encryption/
Anonymizing |
| Easy |
understand your employer's email policies and assume the worst |
|