As a general definition, spam is unsolicited email and sometimes referred to as Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE). These emails are usually advertisements of a varied nature ranging from healthcare to financial matters.

Do refer to the following IDA webpages for more information:

• E-mail Marketing
• FAQs - E-mail Marketing
• iDA FAQs on Telecommunications and Postal Services - Unsolicited Emails/ Messages/ Calls

There is no existing law in Singapore against sending spam, however, spamming may be considered an offence if it affects the normal operations of the destination system.

Your address may not be visibly listed in the email because it is in the BCC field which does not show the recipients' email addresses.

Inserting a fake email address into the From field of an email (otherwise known as spoofing) is commonly employed by spammers to mislead recipients and avoid complaints about the spam.

Email address spoofing is easily done and does not require your email password. However, as a precaution, we would advise that you change your password should you receive an email that was apparently sent from your email address.

• Your emails address was sold as part of an email database
• The previous owner of your email address had signed up to receive such emails
• The website you signed-up at sold your email address to other companies - many sites include a fine-print notice allowing them to distribute your email address to their partners
• Someone signed you up to receive these emails

There are numerous ways for a spammer to get your email address:

• Spyware that has been unknowingly installed in your computer
• Social engineering
• By having access to the same computer you have used e.g. in a cyber cafe
• The previous owner of the email address may have signed-up for some online services
• IRC, chatrooms or instant messengers
• Mailing lists
• White and yellow pages
• Online or paper forms e.g. contest entries
• Personal web page
• Guessing i.e. the spammer runs a program to generate all possible userids beginning with each alphabet
• Newsgroup postings
• Cookies stored on your computer
• Guestbooks
• Email databases - once your email address has been obtained it may be stored in a database and sold worldwide

More details are available at How do spammers get people's email addresses

Following are some basic precautions to take:

• Make it more difficult for the spammer to guess your userid - try not to use a common word or name e.g. apple, jennifer etc.
• Be wary when revealing your email address online, read the site's Privacy Policy carefully to determine how the company will use your personal information.
• Use a form instead of listing your email address on your personal website.

Do refer to the following articles for more ways to safeguard your Internet privacy:

• Internet Privacy
• Understanding Security and Privacy

Changing your UserID or email address may help reduce the volume of spam you receive, especially if your current email address was previously used by someone else or your UserID is a common name or word. You may change your SingNet userid online at My Account.

You are advised to use this unsubscribe option only if you feel that the company is a trusted one and would immediately remove your email address from their mailing list upon request. In many cases, the unsubscribe link is not a real option to unsubscribe. More often than not, the spammer uses this method to find out whether the email address is active.

Spam filter

To reduce the volume of spam to your mailbox, you can set up filters in your email client e.g. Outlook Express, Eudora etc. to detect and trash spam. The most common function is to move the email to the Deleted Items folder - this means that you still have to download the emails and clear the Deleted Items folder. Some email clients allow you to automatically delete filtered emails without downloading it, however, you will not have a chance to confirm that the email is spam, nor can you retrieve it if it was mistakenly deleted.

Setup a filter on your email software or webmail to block emails based on email address, domain or content. For content filters, besides words linked to pornographic content, you can also filter emails with unsubscribe functions e.g. Filter out phrases such as "click here for removal" or "to be removed". .

Instructions on setting up filters or message rules are available in the Help section of your email client. Search for 'filter' to find up the instructions. Do be careful when setting up filters to ensure that a legitimate email is not accidentally blocked/ deleted.

Anti-spam software

Other than setting filters on your email client, you may also use anti-spam software:

• Despammed.Com Mail Filtration Service
• iHateSpam (Sunbelt)
• JunkSpy
• MailWasher
• Matador (Mail Frontier)
• Norton Spam Alert (Bundled with Norton Internet Security 2003)
• SpamAssassin/ SpamAssassin Pro
• SpamButcher
• SpamCatcher (Mailshell)
• SpamCop
• SpamKiller (McAfee)
• SpamNet
• The Spam Filter©

There are no filters or software on the market that can completely block spam from your mailbox because spammers use a great variety of methods which are constantly evolving to ensure that the spam reaches you.

You may report the spammer to his Internet Service Provider (ISP) by providing the full email headers and the contents of the spam.

If the spam originated from a SingNet subscriber, you may report it at the Internet Abuse Incident Report page. Please read the instructions carefully to ensure that you provide all the relevant information. However, if the spam was not sent by a SingNet subscriber, you should report the spammer directly to his ISP.

You can also subscribe to spam-reporting services such as SpamCop

A spam report that contains the full email headers and contents will be investigated by the Internet Security team. If the spam is traced to a SingNet account, we will take appropriate action including issuing warnings, suspending or terminating the offender's account. If the spam did not originate from a SingNet account, we will inform the offender's ISP of the incident for their investigation.

There are legal restrictions preventing the release of a subscriber's particulars unless pursuant to an official request by the police or a Court Order, etc. If you feel that you have grounds for legal action against the spammer, please consult your lawyer for further advice.

Such postings may also be considered as spam and should be reported to the newsgroup moderator to be removed or barred. If you want to report the incident to the spammer's ISP you should obtain the headers and report the posting in the same way you do for email spam. For more information on newsgroup spam, do refer to The Net Abuse FAQ.

SingNet has introduced an Anti-Spam value-added service which provides maintenance-free spam filtering. Emails identified as spam will be filtered into a Mass Mail folder in the SingNet webmail, MyCommunicator, so that you need not download the spam. Click here to find out more about the service.

An open relay or open proxy is a server which allows third-parties to send email through it. While it may be used for legitimate purposes such as allowing employees to access the mail server while overseas, it is often hijacked by spammers to send spam.

You may test your server at the following sites:

• Open relay test

  a. Mail Relay Testing
  b. Open Relay Test

• Open proxy test

  a. The Proxy Connection
  b. Open proxy check

You may refer to the following sites for instructions on fixing the open relay/proxies. Should you require assistance in closing the relay/proxy, please contact your server vendor.

• Open relay

  a. MAPS Anti-Relay
  b. Spam Links - Fixing Open Relays

• Open proxy

  a. Spam Links - Fixing Open Proxies

One method is to allow only authorized account holders to access the server. You may also implement a POP before SMTP function on your server. Click here for the explanation and instructions on implementing this function. Do contact your server vendor should you require assistance in setting up these functions.

There are legal restrictions preventing the release of a subscriber's particulars unless pursuant to an official request by the police or a Court Order, etc. If you feel that you have grounds for legal action against the spammer, please consult your lawyer for further advice.

A virus is a program, which when loaded onto your computer system, will execute itself and cause damage to the system. The virus can spread itself to other computer systems.

A worm is a program that is able to replicate itself and disrupts the computer system by making so many copies of itself that it uses up all the system resources. It too can spread itself to other computer systems.

A Trojan horse is a malicious program that is disguised as something harmless. Unlike viruses and worms, a Trojan horse cannot replicate itself however it may spread as part of a virus.

The best way is to install anti-virus software on your computer and update it regularly. The anti-virus should be configured to constantly scan your computer every time it is switched on. It should also scan all email attachments and files downloaded to the computer be it from a website, instant messenger or any other programs.

Popular and highly-rated anti-virus software:

• Norton Antivirus
• McAfee VirusScan
• PC-cillin Internet Security

For anti-virus reviews, check out CNET's Security & Utilities Reviews.

Scan your PC with your anti-virus program to detect any possible virus and worm infections. If your anti-virus software is active and you receive a virus-infected email, the anti-virus should detect it and alert you.

Alternatively, you can try online virus scans such as

• Symantec Security Check
• HouseCall
• Command on Demand

You should stay offline as much as possible because the virus will spread whenever you are online. If your anti-virus cannot remove the virus, contact the vendor for further assistance. You may also refer to the anti-virus vendor's website - some anti-virus vendors provide special removal tools for a particular virus.

Get the full headers of the virus mail and send it to the person's ISP. Ensure that you do not send the virus attachments because the email will most probably be blocked by the ISP's anti-virus.

If the sender was a SingNet subscriber, you may report it online at the Internet Abuse Incident Report.

There are some possible scenarios that could explain this:

• The From field was forged by the virus.
• Some email clients store all email addresses found in the emails received. So if you and the virus-sender share a mutual acquaintance, then your email address could have been stored when your friend sent an email to both of you.

There are legal restrictions preventing the release of a subscriber's particulars unless pursuant to an official request by the police or a Court Order, etc. If you feel that you have grounds for legal action against the spammer, please consult your lawyer for further advice.

Most viruses are able to send out infected emails from the infected computer system without the user's knowledge. The virus starts sends the infected emails when you are online and the emails are not listed in your Outbox or Sent Items folder.

In this instance, changing your email address will not solve this problem as it is your computer that is infected with the virus. You should take immediate steps to remove the virus from your computer system and try to remain offline until you are certain that the virus has been cleared.

Again, there are several possible scenarios:

• The recipient's email address may be in other files on your computer - some virus strains are not limited to the address book in the search for email addresses
• The virus may be programmed to send emails to specific addresses
• The virus may generate email addresses e.g. insert the same UserID but append a different domain each time e.g. The UserID 'admin' is used with the recipient's domain name e.g. admin@singnet.com.sg.

While the definitions of hacking are numerous and varied the one you are probably referring to is unauthorized access into a computer system - PC, server, network, website etc. For more detailed information, do refer to the following sites:

• Hackers, crackers and Trojan horses: A primer
• Definition of a hacker

Yes, hacking is an offence under the Computer Misuse Act.

• You can protect both by first installing a firewall on your computer. A properly configured firewall can effectively block hacking attempts. Do ensure that your firewall is active whenever you are online.

  Among the popular firewalls are:

  • ZoneAlarm
  • Norton Personal Firewall
  • McAfee Firewall
  • BlackIce Defender
  
  
  

• Protect your password. Do not store your password in your PC, share it with others or write it down somewhere that others can see. Change passwords regularly; if you don't want to keep coming up with so many passwords, what you can do is have a few passwords that can be rotated regularly. Ensure that these passwords are not easily guessed passwords such as someone's name, your birthdate etc. Your password should be at least 8 characters long and should contain a good mix of letters and numbers.

Firewall support is provided by the firewall vendor; do refer to the vendor for assistance on configuring the firewall. Alternatively, you may refer to the vendor's website or search the Internet for FAQs and instructions on configuration. Following are some links to FAQs on popular firewalls:

• ZoneAlarm
• Norton Personal Firewall 2002
• BlackIce
• McAfee

You may report the incident to the other user's service provider. You can trace the service provider by checking the IP address in your firewall log at any of the following WHOIS services:

• SecuritySpace
• IP-WHOIS database lookup
• GeekTools

Ensure that you provide the full log of that particular attempt when sending the report. It is recommended that you send a separate report for different IP addresses. This makes it easier for the service provider to investigate each attempt.

If the attempt originated from a SingNet IP address, you may make a report online at the Internet Abuse Incident Report.

There are legal restrictions preventing the release of a subscriber's particulars unless pursuant to an official request by the police or a Court Order, etc. If you feel that you have grounds for legal action against the spammer, please consult your lawyer for further advice.

Check your computer for possible virus or worm infections or Trojan horses. These may be the cause of the hacking attempts trace to your account. You should also check the software installed on your computer - some software run background programs/ activities which may be interpreted as hacking attempts.

• Check with your family members/ colleagues/ others who have access to the account. Did they use the account elsewhere? If you are unsure, you may wish to try calling the number to check.
• If, after checking, you find that it is unauthorized usage of your account, we recommend that you make a police report. Remember to bring along printouts of your usage details when making the report.

Service Providers follow a strict Privacy Policy whereby they will not reveal the identity of their subscriber to any third-party unless in cases involving the law - this is usually a request from the Police or a Court Order ordering the release of the information. If you feel that you have grounds for legal action, you should consult your lawyer for further advice.