How to Protect Your Business or Organization
Here are three things you can do to protect your business or organization from spam and other electronic threats:
- Protect Your Computer and Networks
- Protect Your Electronic (Email) Addresses
- Protect Your Business or Organization
Protect Your Computer and Networks
- Keep your software and operating system up to date on your computer or mobile device.
- Use a trusted antivirus program, which protects against malicious software such as malware, adware, spyware, viruses, and Trojans — and keep it up-to-date, as updated software normally has the latest anti-spam filters and provides the strongest defense against malicious software.
- Use a firewall that helps to stop unwanted communication with a computer.
- Keep and share with your staff a list of software that cannot be put onto your computer systems.
- Keep a list of specific software and email addresses your staff are allowed to use on your computer systems (a white list).
Protect Your Electronic (Email) Addresses
- Consider creating an employee email policy to reduce the amount of personal email sent through business email addresses. This will reduce electronic threats such as viruses in videos, pictures and links.
- Know where your company email addresses and mobile numbers are being posted. Posting an electronic address anywhere on the Internet will attract spam. Share your company electronic addresses, where possible, only with people and organizations you know and trust. If specific email addresses at your business are getting a lot of spam, consider replacing them with new addresses.
Protect Your Business or Organization
- Ask your employees to use judgment when deciding whether to open unwanted messages. If it looks suspicious, it may be malicious spam. If it looks like legitimate marketing, then it may be perfectly safe, although you may not have requested it or you may not want to get it anymore. Unfortunately, there is no way to know for sure whether or not a message is safe. The best you can do is to reduce your risk by using your judgment.
- Don't reply to suspicious spam. If the message seems at all suspicious to you, don't respond. Never reply to, or click on a "remove" or "unsubscribe" link in a suspicious spam message. If you do respond, it will confirm your address and cause your business to receive more spam.
- If the message seems legitimate and safe but you don't want to receive any more messages from the sender, once the new law is in force, it should have a working "remove" or "unsubscribe" link that you can use to tell the sender that you no longer wish to receive their messages.
- Ask your employees not to visit websites or try or buy anything advertised in a spam message.
- Attachments included in emails may have software that could harm your company's computer network, the computer's performance or steal confidential information. Malicious software can corrupt your computer network, computers or take over your company's email account to send viruses to other people. Criminals can make messages look like they come from people you know or do business with; this is called "spoofing." If you are unsure about an email message, check with the sender before opening it. Do not use the contact information provided in the original email as it could be false as well. Instead, look up the contact information for the organization on their website, in the phone book or on printed correspondence you may have from them.
- Use alphanumeric passwords that use a combination of numbers, character symbols and letters in upper and lower case. This makes it hard for people to guess your password. (Example: User name: JohnRobert, Password: An!C4nadi*n).
- Only buy software from a legitimate dealer. Malicious software can corrupt your computers and networks, or hijack your email accounts to send viruses to other people.
- When the law is brought into force, there will be a Spam Reporting Centre set up where you will be able to report spam and other electronic threats. When operational, the Spam Reporting Centre will accept various types of electronic messages from individuals and organizations in Canada. Reporting spam and related electronic threats will not stop such threats completely; however, the data sent to the Spam Reporting Centre will help it identify trends, and try to find out who is sending the spam and other threats and from where. This will aid in the future prosecution and civil proceedings against those responsible for electronic threats in Canada and internationally.
- Report fraud caused by spam and other electronic threats. If you or your business is a victim of fraud, report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, your local police, the credit bureaus and your bank so they are aware of the situation.
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