Why? Virus and other security attacks on your computer are on-going, and Windows computers are particularly vulnerable. If you are successfully attacked, your computer will likely be used to attack other computers and you may be unaware that your computer has been taken over. The virus may delete your files.

Comment: Keeping your security software current is far less painful than repairing an infected computer.

Why? Needlessly exposing your address is an invitation for spammers.

Comment: Use email addresses that are easy to create and dispose of, for example, orders1.smith@example.com. You may then replace a spammed address with a new one, such as orders2.smith@example.com. Some email providers have tools that let you create new addresses on their email servers without having to contact the provider.

Why? Occasionally legitimate email will be mis-classified by your provider and be temporarily stored in your spam folder on your provider's server.

Comment: Some providers can automatically email you daily or weekly a summary of the spam on their server.

Why? We have come to expect timely responses when we send email.

Comment: Use your email provider's Autoresponder to automatically reply to a sender to let them know that you're out of the office, on a trip or vacation. For example, an Autoresponder message might be: "I'll return to the office on Friday afternoon and will respond to your email then." Some Autoresponders can respond with individual messages tailored to different senders.

Why? A coded (HTML) email may contain hidden links that reveal private information about you to the sender, or can track what you are viewing and posting on the web.

Comment: Your privacy may be compromised by HTML email. Some email providers offer security tools that convert coded (HTML) email to 'text-only', or 'plain text' so that it can be read safely.

Why? 'IMAP' makes it convenient to access the same email account from multiple computers. For example, you may need to access your work email both from home and work or from different workplaces.

Comment: Many email providers support 'IMAP'. Using 'IMAP', your email stays on your provider's server, allowing you to view your email and see which of your emails have been read or responded to from any computer. Copies of email that you send can also be stored on the IMAP server, accessible from any computer.