Email Security Matters

Epsilon security breach: we?re all targets to spear phishing now!

2011-04-04T11:51:00.001-07:00

You’ve been told time and again to be careful about who you give your email address to, and to NOT give any personal information to businesses you don’t know or trust (ref: Spear Phishing with Unsecure Databases). But what about the BIG guys you do trust?

This Monday morning I awoke to dark skies, rain falling… the day wasn’t looking too good. My Blackberry woke up a few seconds after me, beeping with my special “urgent” email tone alert. It’s an email from Best Buy, adding joy to my wonderful Monday morning. While opening that email, I get another one from a financial institution I deal with. They both said the same thing:

“Recently, we were notified of a system breach at Epsilon, a third-party vendor that provides marketing services to a number of companies, including us. The information obtained was limited to customer name and email addresses of some credit card customers. No account information or other information was compromised.”

While checking on the Web for more details about the story, I sadly discover a third company I do business with, showing the same kind of warning on their website. Here’s a list of the affected sites I compiled from various articles I found on the web.

Read complete article:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/epsilon-security-breach-data-theft-major-spear-phishing-targets/

Windows Search with Windows 7 and Outlook 2007

2011-02-09T09:12:00.000-08:00

How to : Windows Search with Windows 7 and Outlook 2007

There are many things I hate when it comes to email. Even more so when it comes to Outlook. Searching, and in particular, finding what I’m looking for is one these.

Windows Search is a powerful search engine built-in Windows 7. It was known as Desktop Search 4.0 in Windows XP. It uses an indexing engine that runs in the background and lets you use an Search window to perform queries.

This little how to will show you how to use Windows Search to quickly and efficiently search your Outlook PST or OST files (emails, calendar items, tasks, contacts).

Read complete article and howto:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/best-practices/windows-search-windows-7-outlook-2007/

Email Security Grader: More security through education and community

2010-11-05T07:01:00.007-07:00

The security battle today has two main fronts: systems and education of users. Email Security Grader hopes to promote the education of network admins on email security.

Read article:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/email-security-grader-more-security-through-education-and-community/

2010-11-05T07:01:00.005-07:00

Email Security Grader: More security through education and community

The security battle today has two main fronts: systems and education of users. Email Security Grader hopes to promote the education of network admins on email security.

Read article:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/email-security-grader-more-security-through-education-and-community/

2010-11-05T07:01:00.003-07:00

Email Security Grader: More security through education and community -> http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/email-security-grader-more-security-through-education-and-community/

Test your mail server security infrastructure with Email Security Grader

2010-11-05T07:01:00.001-07:00

Email Security Grader is a free online tool which helps IT and mail administrators evaluate the security of their mail infrastructure. The web site regroups several important tests (spam blacklist, open relay, mx records, smtp/pop3/imap authentication), educates users and makes recommendations for each aspect of email security.

http://www.emailsecuritygrader.com.

Read article on ESG here: http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/mail-server-test-blacklist-open-relay-smtp-dns/

2010-11-05T07:00:00.003-07:00

Test your mail server security infrastructure with Email Security Grader

Email Security Grader is a free online tool which helps IT and mail administrators evaluate the security of their mail infrastructure. The web site regroups several important tests (spam blacklist, open relay, mx records, smtp/pop3/imap authentication), educates users and makes recommendations for each aspect of email security.

http://www.emailsecuritygrader.com.

Read article on ESG here: http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/mail-server-test-blacklist-open-relay-smtp-dns/

2010-11-05T07:00:00.001-07:00

Test your mail server security infrastructure with Email Security Grader ->http://www.emailsecuritygrader.com. Read article on ESG here -> http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/mail-server-test-blacklist-open-relay-smtp-dns/

Check your mail server performance with Email Security Grader

2010-11-01T09:01:00.001-07:00

Email Security Grader (www.EmailSecurityGrader.com) is a newly launched online tool that provides useful information for IT administrators and Mail System managers interested in evaluating the level of security in their mail infrastructure.

Extensive and relevant Email Security Tests

Built around a very simple interface, ESG simply asks for the domain name you want to test. It will then conduct a series of tests and analysis:

* MX records check
* Reverse DNS test
* DNSBL (Spam Blacklist) check
* SPF record verification (server- and client-side)
* Open Relay test and Email format validation
* SMTP, POP3 and IMAP clear text authentication

Once the test is complete, ESG will present the user with a full Email Security Report, including a score (in percent), a rating (from very poor to very good security) as well as an extensive set of information ranging from what each test does to why it is important to solve the issue.

Source:

http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/mail-server-test-blacklist-open-relay-smtp-dns/

2010-11-01T09:00:00.001-07:00

Check your mail server performance with Email Security Grader -> http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/mail-server-test-blacklist-open-relay-smtp-dns/

2010-11-01T08:59:00.001-07:00

Check your mail server performance with Email Security Grader -> http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/mail-server-test-blacklist-open-relay-smtp-dns/

2010-07-16T08:46:00.001-07:00

Get rid of Social Spam on WordPress --> http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/get-rid-social-spam-wordpress-comment-registration-spam/

Get rid of Social Spam on WordPress (Comment & Registration Spam)

2010-07-16T08:45:00.001-07:00

The hot topic of the past few years certainly has been Social Networking and the Web 2.0! So, you started a blog on your own domain, have spent a lot of time writing relevant quality content, performing SEO, integrating into social networks to distribute your news.

Now, your site is starting to get decent exposure from Search Engines and Social Networks, traffic is building up and so is spam. This damn spam. After being spammed for years through email, now you also get it on your blog. Of course, spammers have identified this new source. It offers basically the same potential as email (and actually an even better potential), so they want to be there as well. There is spam whose purpose is SEO (improve backlinks), some others are about phishing, identity theft, or malware.

Let's see how to get rid of comment and registration Spam on WordPress in a few easy steps.

http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/get-rid-social-spam-wordpress-comment-registration-spam/

Share NTFS USB Hard Drive on VMware vSphere/ESX 4

2010-06-29T06:40:00.001-07:00

The other day, I was discussing virtualization in email security (for example, anti spam virtual appliance). One of the drawbacks of ESX (and ESXi) is the lack of support for external data storage (non Data Store). Of course, you can add a multitude of data stores, local and remote, and it is THE way to go. But I needed to be able to backup my virtual appliances to an external hard drive using NTFS (so that it can be read on my Windows machines).

Read entire article on EmailSecurityMatters.com
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/best-practices/share-ntfs-usb-hard-drive-vmware-vsphere-esx-4/

What?s New in modusGate 5.0: Policy Management and Enhanced Anti Spam

2010-06-15T07:13:00.001-07:00

With modus 5.0, Vircom adds a number of new features and improvements: Microsoft Exchange 2010 support and integration (Contacts and Trusted Senders), Quarantine Report delegation and an enhanced Sender Reputation System. This new release also marks the debut for Vircomâ€™s Policy Management add-on. Policy Management protects your organisation against intentional or unintentional data leakage by email. It also provides traceability and tools to enforce your company policies.

http://www.vircom.com/en/products/about-modus-5.0/

Here come the spam police

2010-05-18T11:51:00.001-07:00

The German courts may have just opened the floodgates. Their top criminal court ruled this week that home wireless users can be held responsible for not password-protecting their wireless connections. If the unprotected connection is used for illegal file downloads, the owner can be fined up to 100 Euros (currently $126).

The ruling came about after a musician (not identified) sued a man whose wireless Internet connection was used to download music to a file sharing site. The ruling basically stated that people are responsible for securing their networks during initial setup, but there was no requirement for maintaining and updating security. Nor was there any ruling about the content of the abused files.

Read entire story on EmailSecurityMatters.com
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/industry-news/here-come-the-spam-police/

Let’s Virtualize Email Security with modusGate !

2010-04-29T06:32:00.000-07:00

The need for Spam Filter Virtual Appliance in today's virtualized environments

Virtualization. Virtual Machine. Virtual Appliance. We keep on hearing these words over and over: they’ve been a recurring topic for a few years now. And it’s growing to the point where the Microsoft vs. Google fight now has a new contender: Microsoft vs. VMware⁽¹⁾.

So, what’s all the buzz about? Let’s Virtualize Email Security!

Reducing your IT costs through optimization of resource utilization:

Regroup various servers and services
Scale your VMs up and down
Reduce costs: electricity bills (power, cooling), rack and floor space, maintenance and upgrades (parts, labor)
Improve the turnaround
Streamline your software and security update processes
Simplify backup and recovery plans
Increase security.

How it works

Creating and hardening your modusGate™ Spam Filter Virtual Appliance can be achieved reliably using Vircom’s modusGate™ Email Security VM Howto

Anti spam virtual appliance : modusGate™ VM

2010-04-29T06:26:00.000-07:00

Windows-based Email Security & Anti spam Virtual Appliance

modusGate™ VM anti spam gateway for Exchange/SMTP fully supports virtualized environments such as VMware®. Businesses building virtualized IT infrastructures can thus create a full Email Security Virtual Appliance for use in their network and protect physical or virtual mail servers such as Microsoft® Exchange™, Lotus® Domino® or standard SMTP servers against spam, viruses, phishing, malware and other electronic threats.

Related Resources

modusGate™ Email Security software
Installing modusGate Anti spam Virtual Appliance (PDF, 439 kB)
VMware® Best Practices for VMware ESX Server 3 (PDF, 266 kB)
VMware® Best Practices for Building Virtual Appliances (PDF, 128 kB)
Wikipedia Virtualization

Six items often overlooked when purchasing an email security solution

2010-04-27T09:01:00.001-07:00

As discussed in an earlier post , the battle against spam is an ongoing one and requires you to do your due diligence when selecting an email security solution to protect one of your business’ most important assets: email.

Read complete article on Email Security Matters blog and news:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/six-items-often-overlooked-when-purchasing-an-email-security-solution/

Let's Virtualize Email Security!

2010-03-19T10:02:00.001-07:00

Virtualization. Virtual Machine. Virtual Appliance. We keep on hearing these words over and over: they’ve been a recurring topic for a few years now. And it’s growing to the point where the Microsoft vs. Google fight now has a new contender: Microsoft vs. VMware.

So, what’s all the buzz about?

Read complete article on Email Security Matters blog at http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/virtualize-email-security/

2009 Spam Review

2010-01-15T12:59:00.001-08:00

2009, according to the Chinese calendar, was the Year of the Ox:

“People born in the Year of the Ox are patient, speak little, and inspire confidence in others.” 1

Well that description pretty much sums up most of the spam sent in 2009: the perpetrators tended to say little in the messages, but oh did they inspire confidence – in the criminal sense! 2009 showed a remarkable increase in Phishing/Fraud content. Why bother making 10 cents per click or selling fake pills for $4 when you can take over someone’s bank account or – even better - their full identity?

Read more spam and security news and articles:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/all-about-spam/2009-spam-review/

10 Resolutions You Shouldn?t Break This Year

2010-01-15T12:58:00.001-08:00

10- Keeping Tabs on your Data
9- Your first line of defense…Firewalls
8- Abc123 is not a password! And neither is qwerty!
7- Didn’t Mom always say to look BOTH ways before crossing the street? The same goes for spam.
6- Be wary of Popups. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is!
5- Don’t be so transparent!
4- Primary Domain? Secondary? Same Difference, right?
3- Keep your guard up!
2- It looks tempting.. but don’t take the bait!
1- Don’t trust yourself!

Read more on messaging security blog:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/best-practices/10-resolutions-you-shouldnt-break-this-year/

Personal email sent from work: is it private or company property?

2010-01-15T12:57:00.003-08:00

With scandal after scandal involving employees stealing company data or releasing financial details, many companies have cracked down and are reading employee email.

With many new laws coming into effect, and companies scrambling to meet regulatory compliance guidelines, it is important to remember that employees have rights too, and that they must be informed about any monitoring policies.

Read more on anti-spam blog:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/industry-news/personal-email-sent-from-work-is-it-private-or-company-property/

What is a Honeypot in Email Security Terms?

2010-01-15T12:57:00.001-08:00

A Honeypot is, by definition, a decoy or a trap whose purpose is to detect and identify unauthorized use in order to prevent breaches.
In Email Security, a Honeypot is a SMTP server setup to process a single domain (or multiple domains) to gather emails all day long. Let’s examine two methods used by email honeypots to lure and detect spammers: the open relay, and the spamtrap.

Read more on Email Security Blog:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/what-is-a-honeypot-in-email-security-terms/

What is a Honeypot in Email Security Terms?

2009-12-18T06:46:00.001-08:00

A Honeypot is, by definition(1),(2), a decoy or a trap whose purpose is to detect and identify unauthorized use in order to prevent breaches.

In Email Security, a Honeypot is a SMTP server setup to process a single domain (or multiple domains) to gather emails all day long. Let’s examine two methods used by email honeypots to lure and detect spammers: the open relay(3), and the spamtrap(4).

Read more on Email Security Matters .com at http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/what-is-a-honeypot-in-email-security-terms/

Ho Ho..ohhh!

2009-12-08T06:32:00.003-08:00

This scam is not that popular yet, but we’ll probably begin hearing more about it in 2010, thanks to Web 2.0. Reported only few times this year, the scam seems to have reappeared during the past week. I guess the Tiger Woods incident helped. In a nutshell, the scammer gathers some very basic info about you (e.g. whether you’re married, your favorite places to visit, etc.) and builds a scam around you - it’s really quick and simple.

Read more on Email Security Matters blog and news:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/ho-ho..ohhh/

2009-12-08T06:32:00.001-08:00

Ho Ho..ohhh!

This scam is not that popular yet, but we’ll probably begin hearing more about it in 2010, thanks to Web 2.0. Reported only few times this year, the scam seems to have reappeared during the past week. I guess the Tiger Woods incident helped. In a nutshell, the scammer gathers some very basic info about you (e.g. whether you’re married, your favorite places to visit, etc.) and builds a scam around you - it’s really quick and simple.

Read more on Email Security Matters blog and news:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/ho-ho..ohhh/

2009-12-08T06:31:00.001-08:00

Ho Ho..ohhh! -> http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/ho-ho..ohhh/

Reverse DNS checking: Is it safe to use?

2009-12-07T08:25:00.003-08:00

Every time I do a setup with a customer, the question always comes up: Should we use Reverse DNS checking or not when configuring connection-level blocking security measures?

Read more on Email Security Matters blog:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/best-practices/reverse-dns-checking-is-it-safe-to-use/

2009-12-07T08:25:00.001-08:00

Reverse DNS checking: Is it safe to use?

Every time I do a setup with a customer, the question always comes up: Should we use Reverse DNS checking or not when configuring connection-level blocking security measures?

Read more on Email Security Matters blog:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/best-practices/reverse-dns-checking-is-it-safe-to-use/

2009-12-07T08:24:00.005-08:00

Reverse DNS checking: Is it safe to use? -> http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/best-practices/reverse-dns-checking-is-it-safe-to-use/

2009-12-07T08:24:00.003-08:00

You only have one reputation – don’t lose it.

Having a bad reputation might have seemed cool when you were a teenager, but if your email server has been given a bad rap, it’s definitely UNcool – especially if your business depends on delivering email. Trying to get your reputation back can be time consuming and costly, so the best approach is to do your utmost not to lose it in the first place.

Read more on Email Security Matters blog:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/best-practices/you-only-have-one-reputation-dont-lose-it/

2009-12-07T08:24:00.001-08:00

You only have one reputation – don’t lose it -> http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/best-practices/you-only-have-one-reputation-dont-lose-it/

You only have one reputation ? don?t lose it

2009-12-07T08:23:00.001-08:00

Having a bad reputation might have seemed cool when you were a teenager, but if your email server has been given a bad rap, it’s definitely UNcool – especially if your business depends on delivering email. Trying to get your reputation back can be time consuming and costly, so the best approach is to do your utmost not to lose it in the first place.

Read more on Email Security Matters blog:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/best-practices/you-only-have-one-reputation-dont-lose-it/

Help spammers create new email accounts

2009-12-02T07:12:00.003-08:00

You are about to subscribe to a website, a newsletter, get a free email account, or try to download something. You’ve never heard of this site before but it has what you need. Before you can click Confirm, you’re asked to complete a Captcha validation. Okay, no big deal: you enter the string and press “Confirm.”

Read more on Email Security Matters blog: http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/all-about-spam/help-spammers-create-new-email-accounts/

2009-12-02T07:12:00.001-08:00

Help spammers create new email accounts

You are about to subscribe to a website, a newsletter, get a free email account, or try to download something. You’ve never heard of this site before but it has what you need. Before you can click Confirm, you’re asked to complete a Captcha validation. Okay, no big deal: you enter the string and press “Confirm.”

Read more on Email Security Matters blog: http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/all-about-spam/help-spammers-create-new-email-accounts/

Personal email sent from work: is it private or company property?

2009-12-02T07:11:00.003-08:00

With scandal after scandal involving employees stealing company data or releasing financial details, many companies have cracked down and are reading employee email. With many new laws coming into effect, and companies scrambling to meet regulatory compliance guidelines, it is important to remember that employees have rights too, and that they must be informed about any monitoring policies.

Read more on Email Security Matters blog:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/industry-news/personal-email-sent-from-work-is-it-private-or-company-property/

2009-12-02T07:11:00.001-08:00

Personal email sent from work: is it private or company property?

With scandal after scandal involving employees stealing company data or releasing financial details, many companies have cracked down and are reading employee email. With many new laws coming into effect, and companies scrambling to meet regulatory compliance guidelines, it is important to remember that employees have rights too, and that they must be informed about any monitoring policies.

Read more on Email Security Matters blog:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/industry-news/personal-email-sent-from-work-is-it-private-or-company-property/

2009-12-02T07:09:00.001-08:00

Personal email sent from work: is it private or company property? -> http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/industry-news/personal-email-sent-from-work-is-it-private-or-company-property/

What, me worry?

2009-11-23T13:02:00.003-08:00

Incidents of cybercrime via malware and exploits are on the rise, but if this recent poll is to be believed, people are still too blasé about their Internet security. The Unisys Security Index: Global Summary report 1 revealed the following:

“Concerns over security in everything from online shopping and banking to safety from computer viruses, as well as national security along with personal and financial security, were significantly down over what was recorded half a year ago for populations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Netherlands, Spain, Australia and New Zealand. More than 8,000 people were surveyed.”

Read more on EmailSecurityMatters.com blog:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/what-me-worry/

2009-11-23T13:02:00.001-08:00

What, me worry?

Incidents of cybercrime via malware and exploits are on the rise, but if this recent poll is to be believed, people are still too blasé about their Internet security. The Unisys Security Index: Global Summary report 1 revealed the following:

“Concerns over security in everything from online shopping and banking to safety from computer viruses, as well as national security along with personal and financial security, were significantly down over what was recorded half a year ago for populations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Netherlands, Spain, Australia and New Zealand. More than 8,000 people were surveyed.”

http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/email-security/what-me-worry/

2009-11-23T13:01:00.001-08:00

What, me worry? -> http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/category/what-me-worry/

2009-11-20T09:44:00.001-08:00

How can we stop the botnets? -> http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/all-about-spam/how-can-we-stop-the-botnets/

2009-11-20T09:43:00.003-08:00

How can we stop the botnets? -> http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/all-about-spam/how-can-we-stop-the-botnets/

How can we stop the botnets?

2009-11-20T09:43:00.001-08:00

Botnets are a fascinating piece of software – yes, they really are!

Although they lie deep in the “dark” stack of widespread tools that are used to perpetrate cyber-crimes, they really shine as well-engineered structures. They are forced to constantly evolve because of the current and on-going “arms-race” between security experts and cyber-criminals.

Read complete story posted by Alexandre Abreu in All about Spam on Nov 20, 2009 here:
http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/all-about-spam/how-can-we-stop-the-botnets/

2009-11-18T07:49:00.001-08:00

Unsubscribe me! in Anti spam best practices -> http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/best-practices/unsubscribe-me/

Unsubscribe me!

2009-11-18T07:48:00.001-08:00

At some point you receive a newsletter that looks quite legit, but you don’t recall subscribing to it. While looking at the content, you can’t figure out if it’s spam or not. What do you do with it? Delete! (And block the sender too, if you can).

Read entire blog article at http://www.emailsecuritymatters.com/site/blog/best-practices/unsubscribe-me/

Les solutions de s�curit� courriel modus? de Vircom prot�gent contre le pourriel de type Snowshoe

2009-11-18T07:35:00.003-08:00

La compagnie de sécurité courriel Vircom combat la toute dernière vague de pourriels Snowshoe avec sa ligne de produits logiciels anti-pourriel modusGate™ et modusMail™.

Lisez la nouvelle complète à http://www.vircom.com/fr/nouvelles/modus-anti-spam-solutions-protect-against-snowshoe-spam/

Vircom?s modus? anti-spam solutions protect against Snowshoe spam

2009-11-18T07:35:00.001-08:00

Email Security company Vircom fights the most recent Snowshoe spam threat with its award-winning Anti-Spam Software modusGate™ and modusMail™.

Read entire news article at http://www.vircom.com/en/news/modus-anti-spam-solutions-protect-against-snowshoe-spam/

2009-11-18T07:34:00.003-08:00

Vircom’s modus™ anti-spam solutions protect against Snowshoe spam -> http://www.vircom.com/en/news/modus-anti-spam-solutions-protect-against-snowshoe-spam/

2009-11-18T07:34:00.001-08:00

Vircom’s modus™ anti-spam solutions protect against Snowshoe spam -> http://www.vircom.com/en/news/modus-anti-spam-solutions-protect-against-snowshoe-spam/

Vircom?s modus? anti-spam solutions protect against Snowshoe spam

2009-11-18T07:28:00.001-08:00

Email Security company Vircom fights the most recent Snowshoe spam threat with its award-winning Anti-Spam Software modusGate™ and modusMail™.

http://ping.fm/AShea

2009-11-18T07:27:00.003-08:00

Vircom’s modus™ anti-spam solutions protect against Snowshoe spam (http://ping.fm/QNiaT)

2009-11-18T07:27:00.001-08:00

http://ping.fm/s7OTU